The Tales of New Dawn
by MLPPP217
Summary: New Dawn, a pony addicted to Danger has made a strange request for a pony who never slows down. "I need a vacation". However this vacation will involve some work, especially as he is also trying to steal The Elements of Harmony and needs Twilight Sparkle to do it. How will he do it you ask? Well read and find out! Reviews really appreciated!
1. Something Out There

Something More Out There

"Dawn are you almost ready or do you need help with your tux?" my mother yelled for the millionth time. I sighed and looked up from my Daring Doo book which like many other ponies had captured me with its fun and incredible tales of adventure and danger.

The tux which I was supposed to be wearing was currently crumpled in a heap by the wardrobe but judging by the time I probably should have already had it on and been heading out the door with my parents to yet another one of the pointless balls which were thrown in Canterlot Castle.

I was not amused to say the least to be once more dragged by my stuck up rich parents to another one of the hundreds I'd had to attend in my short life but then again I suppose there is a price to pay for being insanely rich.

I looked around my room with a bored expression as I took in the chandeliers lighting the ceiling, the king sized bed and the many other fancy and expensive things which decorated everywhere. Of course It was all because my Father was pretty much the tax administrator for Equestria and my mother in charge of leading all the other rich snobs of Canterlot around with the latest trends and making sure they all wore the right clothes that were in fashion and attended the correct balls and parties.

To me up until a few years ago I had perceived this as the normal way that ponies were supposed to live and didn't care if I accidentally broke a vase were a few thousand bits or decided once that the living room was ugly and tried to incinerate it with the use of gasoline and matches.

However things had changed in recent years and eventually breaking valuable things got boring as they were replaced within the hour and trying to burn things eventually led to me almost burning alive and resulted in being sent to hospital.

I came out a different pony after seeing some of the things in there. My parents of course didn't let the servants bring gasoline to my room again but of course that was understandable since I didn't want to burn anything anymore and I was positive they didn't want me to burn anything ever again.

"Dawn I swear that if I have to send somepony up there your allowance is being reduced by a thousand bits!" my mother yelled once more and I sighed and climbed off my lavish bed and after trotting over to the tux which was finely stitched with the best materials in Equestria.

I went over to the mirror and practically threw it on and after doing up several of the buttons looked at my reflection. Although it was a little boastful of me I couldn't deny that I was quite the handsome colt with my reddish, dusty mane and tail all combed back perfectly and my Dark orange coat which shone like the sun.

I didn't like the fact I was way past the marker of being a colt and I was nowhere near getting my Cutie Mark. I was probably one of the latest bloomers in the history of receiving your Cutie Mark. I wasn't a Unicorn and I couldn't fly so that cut out hundreds of talents and then I was no musician, sportspony, scholar or good with my hooves I was just useless.

I looked into my deep brown and boring eyes and shook my head and turned away from admiring myself. I had no idea what the future held for me but I knew that if it was to do with more parties and balls then I'd probably throw my self-off a tower.

I kicked open the door to my room and in doing so broke one of the door hinges. Paying no attention to it I walked as slowly as possible down the grand staircase where my parents were waiting at the bottom all dressed up and ready to go to yet another stupid ball which my mother had organised in celebration of something little and pathetic achievement probably to do with money since everything around here was in it.

"Ah dear you're finally ready, we thought you'd fallen asleep once more" said my mother smiling at me whilst my Father just kept looking at his pocket watch and exclaimed "Yes well we really must go now or else we're going to be late for the ball"!

I sighed and nodded and followed my parents as they left through the front doors held open by the door-pony and then climbed into the carriage in front of them pulled by two more ponies. Why we needed a pony to open and close doors was something which I had begun to think about the first time I'd looked outside my happy little world and then again why did we need a carriage since the Castle was practically 300 metres from where we live at the top of Canterlot.

I climbed into the carriage and sat there thinking for the entire two minutes in which we agonisingly made our way to the castle at the speed of -100 kph "Why is my life heading nowhere"? My parents talked to themselves and me but I'd long since learned how to block out the majority of their pointless words about etiquette and acting proper and simply added a "Yes Mother" or "Yeas Father" to make them think I was actually listening to them.

"You should be very respectful this time son, not many colts get to go to these balls and this time you are going to be meeting Celestia herself" said my Father. I looked round immediately in a mixture of excitement and nervousness.

Celestia, the ruler of Equestria and Harmony itself and I was going to meet her. Not only did it make the night not a complete waste of time but maybe I would actually be able to ask her some questions like why only a few hundred ponies seemed to have the majority wealth of Equestria when I'd read of ponies who hadn't two bits to rub together.

My Father could see my face and immediately chuckled "Don't think about having a long conversation, she has time for about a hello and welcome before the ponies behind her get time to talk".

That was rather annoying but I supposed that even saying hello to a Princess which controlled the sun was better than nothing so I nodded and went back to gloomy and bored thoughts about how annoying it was to waste five hours of sitting around and doing nothing but eating cake and attempting to sneak punch without any of the adults seeing me.

We arrived and my Mother and Father were the first to step out followed by me with my shoulders hunched. We walked through the main gates and the courtyard in a line behind other rich ponies who had also dressed quite ridiculously in some cases.

I was glad I wasn't a filly since it seemed that every year the fashion got weirder and weirder and particularly in the recent years it had seemingly spiralled out of control. It was probably the influx of new fashion artists I'd read about in the Canterlot Times.

My criticisms on fashion were put aside however when I saw her. I'd of course seen Princess Celestia multiple times before in the Summer Sun Celebration but always from a distance but no that I was less than ten metres from the Princess herself I was really beginning to get nervous.

My Mother and Father's expression just turned neutral and when the line finally ended up with us standing right in front of our ruler they greeted her with great enthusiasm and almost grovelling in the case of my Father which was really strange since usually it was he who made others grovel at his hooves.

I myself despite the great excitement before and the multiple questions I'd always dreamed of asking her said nothing and simply stood with my jaw hanging open and my eyes wide as she turned and looked down at me from her great height.

"Well now who is this little one here?" asked Celestia in a tone like honey which made me feel warm and safe just by listening to it. "Oh this is my son my Princess, the one which got caught up in that nasty incident with the fire in our house. By the way thank you for dealing with that matter press wise" grovelled my Father some more to which Celestia smiled and replied "It's quite alright Haze I'm sure if our positions were switched you would have done the same for me".

My Father steppe past her and continued to the main hall with my Mother and myself in tow. He was blushing furiously and by my Mother's frown I could tell she didn't like it. "Ok Dawn, we're going to mingle with some ponies like your Uncle Rich, I believe he's been invited all the way from Ponyville so run along and enjoy yourself I do believe they're serving cake again" said my mother.

"Wow I would have never have guessed they'd serve cake at a ball" I said sarcastically rolling my eyes and trotting away over to the table where once more this year a multiple amount of fancy cakes and punch was set out for the guests.

Not that anypony touched them since etiquette and such meant that only a select few would actually eat and usually that meant kids like me and ponies with a sway in the crowd who would not be criticised for being seen eating in public!

"Oh I see you've been invited" said a rather pompous and annoying voice from behind me. I turned round to see Prince Blueblood himself in a tux and looking as usual like a very pompous idiot with a look which told everypony how much he loathed you and your very essence and presence and on and on.

He was a few years older than me but more feminine than most ponies my age especially with his fear of dirt or something I'd once heard one of my servants talking about to another servant. Still despite his annoying prattle and pompous looks he was still the only other colt besides maybe a few others who'd not usually be invited to these events so I grimaced and keeping it friendly replied "Hello Prince Blueblood, what a pleasant surprise to see you here…again".

As usual he took little notice of my welcome and went over to the multiple cakes and began helping himself, cautious to avoid icing and other things which may dirty his hooves which in turn would ruin his life.

"Well I don't understand why you can't just set another fire and burn your mansion down and save me the trouble of having to make sure you stay in line like my aunt tells me to do every ball" said the Prince as he took the tiniest bites of cake I had ever seen.

I knew he was full of crap but it amused me almost to see how far he'd go to boast about what little more he did have which all in all was simply the title Prince and the fact he was thinly related to Celestia… somehow.

"Yeah well although I'm enjoying our little talk I think I'd prefer to just go and sit in that dark corner over there and die ok" I said sarcastically to which Blueblood took no notice and waved his hoof and muttered pompously "Please do" before continuing to gorge on cakes a tiny bite at a time.

The corner I had in mind was next to some great marble pillars and despite my usual rebellious attitude towards anything lavish or fashionable I was still amazed by some of the architectural feats which continuously impressed me.

Houses which looked like desserts and desserts which looked like houses everything in Equestria seemed to have wacky relations which made it kind of fun I supposed. However thoughts about architecture disappeared as I neared the corner of the grand ballroom where nopony seemed to ever want to go.

However this time was different than usual since unlike the previous times when the door next to my badly lit, little corner of depression was guarded by some very cheerful guards now there was nopony there.

The Castle was quite restricted since in a way it was also the Ruler of Equestria's home and I supposed everypony likes their privacy but then again although I had respect for Princess Celestia I also really wanted to see if there were rooms full of ancient, magical and powerful artefacts, Chambers full of secrets and who knows what other astounding things the castle interior might contain.

So despite the fact that every part of my brain agreed that this was a terrible idea and I would burn in Tartarus for eternity my body gave the go and my legs moved forward and before I knew it I'd slipped through the door quietly without anypony spotting me and found myself in a hallway with about a hundred doors leading straight down.

When I say hallway it was more like a football field since the ceiling seem to extend endlessly and it was so wide it took a lot of energy to cross from one side to another. I was excited and slightly scared since this was technically kind of treason which also made me wonder if Celestia still executed ponies like in the books I'd read during the times of the three tribes.

I shook off that thought and the thoughts of adventure came back to me as I approached the door nearest to me and looked inside. I expected a secret laboratory or a captive dragon but instead all I found was a small drawing room.

Disappointed I rushed to another door and opened it in the same excited fashion only to find a broom closet and a bucket full of some old smelling, soapy water which I promptly stepped into. Annoyed I cursed my luck kicked the bucket away before realising that water spilling out of a broom closet might give reason for suspicion and cursing my luck once more.

However although I felt that I should be returning to the ball I didn't want hours of boredom and this was the most fun I'd had in ages and was a nice change from arguments with myself about how unfair life was and destroying stuff.

However the fun and adventure quickly died down as I went further and further down the hallways and along the corridors at the end of the hallway to more hallways with more doors and more rooms which looked exactly like the fancy and rich rooms in my mansion except slightly older and more boring and dusty.

I was a little worried since I must have been on the other side of the Castle by now and been gone for a good hour but since it would be impossible to find my way back to my original starting point I kept on like a good explorer until I opened the next door and all of my nerve disintegrated.

The door opened before I had the chance to push it open and I walked straight into somepony carrying a stack of books about two metres above their head. The next thing that happened was chaos as I stumbled into the pony and fell on top of them with the books following suit and hitting me very hard on the head one by one.

"Ow" I mumbled and rolled off what I saw was nothing but a filly about a year younger than me with violet eyes which looked both surprised and annoyed at the colt on top of her. Her coat was the colour of lavender and her tail and mane were a dark almost purple with streaks of pink and purple all the way through them and I saw that her cutie mark was some kind of star or something.

"Ow is correct" she replied clearly annoyed. "I…I…I" I tried to say something but nothing came to mind so I tried to gather the books I'd smashed into up for her but instead found that in a few mere seconds a magenta magic had engulfed them and suddenly they were all levitated into the air and in a neat but still tall pile on the lavender filly's back.

"As much as it's been fun I'm afraid I really need to head back to my room and read these for the big test tomorrow so please excuse me" said the filly quite rudely despite the fact that I had been the one to knock her and her books over.

My original fear of being discovered was replaced with curiosity since I'd never heard of any filly's studying under Princess Celestia before. So instead of taking this chance to get away I stupidly followed her and asked "Who are you"?

The lavender filly seemed lost in her own thoughts and was muttering something which sounded like "algorithms" and "Swiss cheese" to my mind under her breath but after I repeated myself she seemed to grasp that I'd asked her a question and without diverting much attention to me answered "Oh it's Twilight, Twilight Sparkle".

The name sounded familiar and I asked "Your Father wouldn't happen to be Night Light by any chance"? At this the little Unicorn paused mid step before turning and asking "How do you know my Father's name"?

I scratched the back of my head and sheepishly replied "Oh I just remember that my Dad and he worked together for a few months with property or something". She seemed to take this in and suddenly realised I was dressed up like I was going to a wedding or something.

Then her eyes widened and she asked "Are you that pony who was involved in that fire that could be seen all over Canterlot"? Of all the questions I'd expected that one was quite annoying and I realised that due to my obsession with destroying expensive things for attention I was probably branded with the nickname "The pony that started that fire when he was a colt" forever.

I put on my best smile and tried to not look annoyed and explained "Yes I am but trust me I'm not some psychopath who will set fire to the castle". She didn't look so sure but nodded and then asked "Did you also sneak away from the ball? If so you should get back cause you're not really allowed to be up here".

I nodded my head and apologised "I'm sorry I was just so bored and Prince Blueblood is out there being an annoying, self-centred dweeb like always". Realising I'd just spoken ill of a Prince I put my hooves over my mouth in an attempt to not say anything else stupid.

I expected a lecture but instead Twilight gave a small giggle and added "Yeah and he's always annoying my brother Shining Armour by turning up to the Guard Training Barracks and attempting to join in but always wimping out because of the dirt involved in touching the training floor".

My eyes went wider when she said Shining Armour and I asked in disbelief "Your brother is Shining Armour, the guy every colt in Canterlot wants to be like"! Twilight was a little taken aback with my description of her brother but she nodded and responded "I guess so but I never knew people envied him so but yeah he is a really awesome brother".

I was certainly astounded by all the fascinating things I'd just heard but then Twilight just piled on when she explained "He wants to be a guard so he's training to be one in the barracks just behind the castle, he joined up about the same time I became the Princess's personal student".

All this new and amazing information was so interesting I was sure my jaw dropped even further. "No way" I murmured but she nodded and I couldn't help but say "That is so cool"! She giggled again but then looked at the time on a clock above the library door behind us and stammered "Oh I-I kind of have to go you see I have all these books to read for tomorrow and stuff…but i-it was nice meeting you".

As she said this I also looked at the time and decided it best I try to find my way back out of the impossible maze of corridors and to the ball room. "Yeah I suppose I should be going now as well, g-goodbye Twilight" I said with a small and self-conscious wave of my hoof.

She smiled but concentrated on levitating her books away as we both went our separate ways. I was feeling strange and certainly not as depressed as when I'd walked through the doors and past Princess Celestia.

Although technically the quite brief encounter with a Princess/Deity I still thought that meeting Twilight was a nice touch to the night despite not finding rooms filled with old relics and dragons in dungeons with slime dripping from the ceiling.

"I watch too many movies in my home cinema" I said to myself as I followed the path I thought I'd taken originally. Getting back proved very difficult and I suppose I should have asked Twilight for some rough directions but then again not sneaking behind party parameters would have probably been a better solution as I found myself once more hopelessly lost.

"Maybe I should have brought string and marked my way out just like Daring Doo and the Labyrinth" I muttered to myself after passing once more through another hallway. However the next Hallway looked promising as there was a door right at the end which looked like the way I'd come in.

Happy to finally be out of this maze and to have not been found out by anypony I quickly made my way towards it only to find in horror that the door was opening slowly. Thinking quickly I burst through the door nearest To me and peeked round the side.

"Quickly Lord Haze and Lady Daisy's son has been missing for over an hour, we must search every room for him" came the gruff voice of a guard and I saw behind him quite a few other guards all saluting and nodding their heads as they set forwards.

I shut the doors and looked around the room. It was an old, small dance floor with many pictures all over its walls and a grand old fireplace in the centre. The portraits of ponies didn't seem to like me being in here but I wasn't paying attention and instead looked for a place to hide.

There was a coat rack with a large cloak on it which I could hide behind but that seemed stupid and I dismissed the thought. There was always the possibility of hiding behind the door and hoping nopony looked behind it when they opened it but then again these were guards, not ponies playing hide and seek not that any other kid my age seemed to want to play a common pony game.

I then looked towards the fireplace and thought to myself "Maybe I should just come quietly, it's not like they'll execute me" but then the slamming of the door next to mine made up my mind and although I wasn't afraid of dirt I grimaced and quickly ducked below the fire place and up the chimney.

I was thankful that it wasn't blocked off and quickly shimmied my way up higher, feeling the ash I dislodged with my hooves as I went. I wanted to cough but then that would give away my position so instead I just held my breath as I heard the door to the room open loudly and from what I could detect my the hoof steps two guard entered.

"That was weird" I thought to myself. "I've never been able to tell things just by hearing them". However right now I wasn't particularly worried about being able to hear very well and simply prayed to Celestia that her guards didn't find me hiding up a chimney.

There were no words which was unsurprising as guards only spoke when they really had to and maintained a steely gaze and attitude the rest of the time but I was surprised when I heard one ask "Hey Sunshine has your wife given birth yet"?

"No not yet but I'm just hoping I can be there for the birth instead of looking for some dumb, lost kid" replied Sunshine a little annoyance evident in his voice. "Well I checked behind the coat rack, is he behind the door?" asked Sunshine's friend and I heard a clack of armour which must have been Sunshine shaking his head.

Sunshine chuckled and said "If only all colts and fillies were as good as that Personal Student of Celestia's. What's her name?" asked Sunshine. "Twilight I think" replied his friend and they both chuckled and then went back to silence.

"I'll lock the door to ensure everypony knows it's already been searched" said Sunshine and with that the two guards exited the room and I heard the clunk of the doo closing and a lock turning. Not a moment too soon as my limbs felt like they were going to be torn from their sockets.

I collapsed on top of more ash in the fireplace and gave a series of small coughs I tried to keep quite by coughing into my tux's sleeves. "That was probably the most daring and dangerous thing I've ever done" I said to myself with a smile which quickly turned into a depressed frown as I somehow didn't picture Daring Doo hiding up a chimney from a guard called Sunshine.

However despite avoiding one problem there was still the fact that the guard had locked me in and I was covered and smelled like ash and it was really killing my lungs. My tux was ruined (although I didn't care much) and my coat and mane were black and grey in most places and completely ruffled.

I walked over to the door and grimaced at the black marks I left behind as I walked. Definitely a dead giveaway but not that I could do anything about it so I focused on looking for a way out of the door. Daring Doo would probably have picked the long but then Daring Doo was an explorer and I was just a colt who read a lot of fiction and hated society.

However looking at the fireplace the fact that it wasn't blocked off meant that there must be an outlet for any smoke and I knew that they still used it by all the fresh ash I felt all over my body. Then again the chimney could be anywhere and certainly high and was I prepared to crawl up and down a chimney to get to freedom and probably get stuck all over again.

However the possibility of climbing through a chimney like my idol were really too good to let up and so without much thought I raced back up the chimney. Well in doing so I fell over my own hooves and slammed my head into the floor by the fireplace.

A little dizzy, I cursed fate and went about climbing up the chimney more cautiously this time. The soot once more killed my lungs and I was pretty sure as I ascended height and higher into the chimney that I was probably so black that I must have looked like a shadow or a ninja.

Thinking about this made me think just how cool this was right until I felt my head brush against the top of the chimney. Although dark I was pretty sure that going any further meant I needed some demolition equipment.

I was a little angry about having got this far only to have to go back down and call for help and then face embarrassment and about a million lectures from my Mother, Father, Guards and I feared Celestia as well.

I never would have dreamed that a boring ball could turn into such an adventure but then again this wasn't really exploring and more hiding and running away. So I prepared to go back down and take the bitter medicine when I felt a passage ahead of me and realised the chimney tunnel went forwards instead of upwards.

All feelings of defeat gone I proceeded forwards, careful not to slip. I was now on my belly and crawling along in the dark and where some colts may have been afraid I was simply elated. I began considering if I had a problem but dismissed this and decided it was more fun to think of myself as Daring Doo.

I kept crawling along but being caught up in my thoughts I failed to notice that there was no longer a floor in front of me but by then it was too late and I was falling down another chimney tunnel. I would have cried out had I had the time but luckily for me the drop was about half a metre and I landed in another chimney with a quite audible "Ow"!

I looked up dizzily and after wiping my eyes saw that I was in the fireplace of a well-lit, circular room with a purple bed in the corner by an elegant window. The walls were covered in tapestries and papers full of algorithms and famous points in history I had no clue about and all around the room there was paper and books.

In fact I'd say up to sixty-percent of the room consisted of books and a desk with a very startled looking Twilight Sparkle looking at me with her quill still dipped in in an ink pot as she had most likely paused everything when a strange colt had come down the chimney.

Since the situation was very delicate and needed to be handled with care I decided it best I carefully explained the situation to Twilight however all my mouth was able to say was "I know I'm in your fireplace but I don't plan to set anything on fire". I internally smacked myself when Twilight's head tilted in confusion and all I could think of saying was "Please don't scream I didn't mean to fall down your chimney".

My excellent choice of words seemed to keep her from screaming but then a pony falling down you're chimney wasn't exactly an everyday occurrence so of course some questions needed to be asked.

"What exactly are you doing?" was the first one followed by "Are you stalking me"? "No I-I'm not stalking you Miss Sparkle, Twilight umm… I'm just examining your chimney as I'm fascinated with architecture and I must say you should be very proud to have such a fine chimney" I coughed as some ash fell into my eye.

She didn't seem convinced by my best lie and I admitted "Ok I might have got lost heading back to the ball and in doing so somepony must have realised I was missing and now there may be a castle wide search going on looking for me and so I might have his up a chimney and then decided to explore and try and find another way out because the guards locked the door to the room I was hiding in… and stuff" I said catching a breath.

She was still confused but then again anypony would be and looking back I suppose that going up a chimney was probably one of the stupidest ideas ever. However her next words surprised me when she pointed put "I don't remember you having a cutie mark with a skull on fire".

I was confused at first but I quickly looked round to see that my Cutie Mark was indeed a pony's skull engulfed by red flames. I had finally gotten my Cutie Mark from climbing through a dirty chimney. I frowned and my excitement died down a little and I asked Twilight "Does this mean my special talent it to do with fire because I really don't want it to be?" I asked Twilight, ignoring the fact I was on my back and lying in her fireplace.

She just stared at me and by the look on her face she was either considering screaming for guards or answering my question. "Well the skull could mean danger so maybe you're like a daredevil or something" answered Twilight, seemingly happy for me receiving my Cutie Mark.

"Well I suppose I did like the danger and challenge presented by crawling through a chimney" I said happily but Twilight's faced changed from curiosity to that of an angry mother whose child had just broken the family vase… again.

"You shouldn't be here, do you realise how much trouble you're going to be in when Celestia finds out you've been climbing through the chimney passages of the castle"! She was quite angry but before I could focus on making an apology or counter argument I heard hoofsteps galloping towards the room and hastily said "I'm not here" before I quickly dived back up the fireplace with surprising speed.

The door opened loudly and a guard came in with his armour making small clanking noises and respectfully asked "Miss Sparkle has anypony been or passed by your room with the description of a colt with a red mane and orange fur"?

There were a few moments of silence and I fretted over what would happen if Twilight gave me up. Had I been in her position I would certainly have done it since it was only sensible for the smart, talented and most of all studious student of Celestia to tell the truth to one of the palace guards.

However when Twilight squeaked out a small "No" the guard took no notice of the blatantly obvious lie and with another small clank of his armour which must have been a salute, he exited the room without another word and the room fell eerily silent.

"Did you… did you just lie for me?" I asked coming down from the fireplace and looking at Twilight in amazement and thankfulness. She herself looked a bit shocked at the lie she had just told but nodded without an explanation.

Before I could ask her anything else I heard shouting down the hallways and suddenly doors outside Twilight's room were being searched. I didn't know how thorough a search of Twilight's room would be but I didn't want to find out so I whispered a quick "Goodbye" before once more climbing up the chimney.

"Wait" said Twilight and I turned at the last moment to see her looking up the chimney at me. "You can't live in the chimneys, you'll be discovered and get into worse trouble than now, I promise Celestia won't reprimand you if you come down now" she proffered but I was already too far in the game and besides like Twilight had remarked I felt the adrenaline through my system and since it was what my Cutie Mark was telling me I wasn't going to argue with it.

"That's ok Twilight, take care" I said kindly with a feeling of affection for the filly which had just lied when she barely even knew me. With one last glance back I once more began to climb the chimney system with more vigour and bravado than I previously possessed.

Although the soot got in my eyes and burned my lungs I just loved the danger. The soot smelled, tasted, felt of it to me in a strange way at the feeling of adrenaline was unreal. I hadn't had this much fun in like… ever and I'd be damned to Tartarus if I was going to just give it all up now and face embarrassment and humiliation from Celestia, my parents, the entire city and probably all of Equestria.

I climbed very high this time and was more careful of the possible junctions and holes in the floor in the chimney tunnels but I was more cautious when I heard the sounds of shouting guards nearby the fireplaces I passed over.

However after a solid twenty-minutes of climbing and manoeuvring through tight spaces I finally heard less and less the hoof-steps and orders of guard that went by and instead an eerie silence. I was surprised as I climbed higher to feel a cold wind blowing over me and suddenly without warning my head popped up and into the dark night and I could see it must have been almost midnight by the deep stars in the sky.

I could see all of Canterlot and the waterfall which ran out of the mountain which supported the city and also which contained a network of tunnels for the trains which ran from Las Pegasus to Ponyville, Las Pegasus being the busier of the two.

Suddenly in panic I ducked down as a flash of torchlight went by and carried on into the castle grounds. Now that I noticed it there were ponies with torches on every balcony and what looked like Wonderbolts with flashlights in their hooves.

This was pretty serious if the entire guard and even the Wonderbolts had been called up to look for me and I briefly considered backing out. However although usually my brain was dominant and always ruling my every move a new part seemed to have formed and it said "Let's escape just like in Daring Doo and the Conviction" which was one of the more violent of the novels I'd ever read.

So since the chimney was behind the castle yet still too high I had to make my way back down without falling to my death I was content with the risk of falling to my death but the actual falling to death scared the living daylight out of me.

I continued down until I came to the first opening of a fireplace and decided the upper levels although being searched probably weren't locked. I climbed carefully down and crawled out of the chimney.

I found I was in some kind of old and unused room with multiple ornaments and odd things covered in white sheets and a layers of dust so thick it looked like it was more dust than sheet. There was a sculpture of a ferocious dragon with ruby eyes, a strange deceased creature in a jar and a very straight and perfect looking mirror in the corner.

I went over to it and looked over myself. The light of the moon from the nearby window wasn't much but I could easily see that my coat, mane and even my recently acquired cutie mark were now totally covered in soot.

I looked like a completely different pony and although I liked black it just wasn't my colour. I adjusted my ruined tux and was about to set off again when suddenly I thought I caught a flash of something in the mirror like eyes staring at me or something.

A little creeped out by the glimpse of eyes in the mirror I decided it best to leave this odd room and went about manoeuvring myself around the odd junk and old relics the room had in search of the door or a light switch.

I eventually found the light switch and flicked it on and a bare bulb flashed to life, flickering and failing every so often. I now could see the room properly and realized that the door was behind a pile of old and twisted furniture which even my grandparents didn't have the likes of.

I looked around for something I could use and seeing nothing except really rusty swords and creepy old sculptures I set to work on clearing the way to the door. I first moved an old bed frame and then a cot with a moon on it which made me feel strange just touching it. Then I moved an old armchair and finally a table.

However as I moved the table I didn't notice the expose nail underneath it and before I could even register pain I saw the blood dripping from my right fore-hoof. I cursed and fell over, holding my hoof tight and scrunching my face up.

The nail had gone quite deep and it was quite rusty which I was positive would mean a trip to the hospital for me. Although painful I pulled the nail out with a small whimper and although I was no medic I was able to tie a small bandage with a piece of ripped dustsheet to stop the majority of the blood pouring out of my hoof.

That was when I noticed something strange. The table was old and carved so why would it need nails? I got up and peered underneath the table to see that along the table structure a box had been hammered into the thick oak wood with nails.

The one which had cut me had come loose and by the looks of it the rest had all corroded away as well. So now that my curiosity had gotten the better of me I grabbed the box firmly with my hooves, wincing as my injured hoof grasped one side.

Then giving my strongest tug I pulled it free from the underside of the table. I saw that the box was locked and needed to be opened with key but since it was old and made of wood I simply got a rusty, jewel encrusted dagger which was labelled "Gift from the Emperor of Saudi Arabia" and used it to pry the box open.

A dust explosion was released when the box came open but as I wafted away the dust and coughed a few times I saw what could only be described as the most beautiful thing in Equestria and probably the rest of the world for good measure.

It was some kind of golden amulet which would be used to tie a cloak or something around somepony and although made of simple gold the beauty which stemmed from it was the rich red jewel in its centre which seemed to swirl with some form of ghostly energy within it.

I didn't think twice about taking it although my parents gave me everything I had to take it. I knew that it was wrong but then again I figured that somepony had left it to rot in a box when the world should view its immense beauty.

I fastened it over my chest and admired it in the mirror where I'd seen the flash of eyes. It was strange on my body since I was covered in soot but I just couldn't get over the way it shone like the sun and had the ghostly mists of the night within its centre.

I was pleased with myself and made my way out of the door, not bothering to switch off the light behind me. However I received a sharp awakening from my little fantasy when I turned around after closing the door as I saw right in front of me Princess Celestia herself sitting on some purple cushions and writing many notes at a fast speed.

She was facing me and although looking down I was sure that by now she would have realised that a colt covered in ash was in the room wearing a stolen artefact and shaking his legs for fear of being executed for both treason and stealing from the crown.

I was about to say something when all of a sudden Celestia stood up and went to the balcony looking directly at me as she turned her head around. "What's going on?" I asked myself but looking down I saw the amulet shining ever brighter and realised "The Amulet must be hiding me from her view somehow"!

Not only was it awesome the fact I was invisible but in the bedroom and study of a deity was even more incredible than all the past things I'd done that night. However it was still quite dangerous since I didn't know if I could be heard so I carefully tip-toed over to where the Princess had been writing her letters before she'd gone to her balcony.

Although it was very rude to read all these notes and letters I couldn't help but see that one was addressed to Twilight about some kind of test using something called a Spike to send letters. Others were diplomatic, financial and in one or two cases personal and I didn't think much of it.

However the fact I was here was too good an opportunity to pass up and so I grabbed the quill which the Princess had been using and wrote "Beware the cheese!" on the note before setting it down and stepping back to admire the very childish action I had just done.

Suddenly I heard Celestia speaking to somepony outside and although I'd already pushed my luck to the point of no return I wanted to take it even further instead of using the amazing amulet which made me invisible to get out of the castle.

"I just worry sometimes Luna and now more than ever with the 1000 years mark coming up" said Celestia to surprisingly enough to nopony. She was standing tall with her flowing rainbow mane waving in the air sluggishly and from what I could see talking to the stars and the full moon.

"I'm tired of it all Luna, the aristocrats, the diplomats, the constant bickering between everypony and the stress of running the country. If it could just be like it were before then I would be happy but I just don't know if things will ever be the same again" Celestia spoke sadly to the stars with a single crystalline tear leaking out of her eye and dropping to the floor as her head bowed sadly.

The scene was totally not the image the public got of her and I was so surprise that I had backed away right into the night stand by her gigantic, silky and golden bed. Of course the lamp on the top of it toppled off and fell to the floor with an extra loud smash which made me cringe.

Celestia's change in attitude was instantaneous and she spun round and charged back into the room and over to where the lamp had fallen with her horn glowing with a golden aurora of magic. "Come out immediately" she yelled and as she began sweeping the room two Unicorn guards which had been standing outside the door burst in with their spears poised to attack anypony which might be hurting their Princess.

I had lucky moved away and was now atop the bed as the others combed the room, Celestia motioning with her hoof for them to be silent as they all went around the room slowly, checking everywhere.

"Look" whispered one guard, pointing to the note which I had written. I couldn't help but crack a huge grin at how puzzled everypony looked but when the other guard noticed the slight pieces of ash which had fallen from my body without my knowledge and led in a trail all the way to where I was standing I decided that it was time I split in a fair hurry.

My fore-hoof still hurt but since everypony was working out the fact I was invisible I made no act to conceal by hoof-steps as I jumped from the bed and employed the ancient tactic of running away very fast.

The noise was instantly registered but the guard had no idea where from and looked around wildly as I exited the doors to the Princess's room and proceed to run down the long hallways. The guards and the Princess realised where the noise was coming from and instantly gave chase.

Although I was young and by no accords a fat colt I was still not that in shape and although the guards had trouble keeping up with me with their armour and weapons weighing them down the Princess had no such trouble and by contrast her long legs made it easy for her to gain on me.

"Come quietly and I promise no harm shall befall you" she yelled but although I didn't doubt her I wasn't going to stop. I realised that the ash was still giving me away and decided that I was time I took a detour.

I crashed through the nearest door to me and after quickly seeing that it was an empty storage room I located the fireplace and shot up it like a bolt of lightning. Celestia charged in behind me and saw the falling ash from the fireplace and using her magic tried to hit whatever was invisibly making its escape.

However I had gotten accustomed to how the chimney tunnels worked and I was quickly moving my way along. I spotted another fireplace opening and made my way down. I realised I was in a trophy room and after a quick look round the room I made my way to the door and opened it.

I peeked around the corner to check if anypony was in the corridors but after finding nopony I immediately set off down the hallway in a quick walk. The marble pillars and banners of Equestria flapped as some gentle breeze passed through and I realised I must be close to some way out or at least an open window. However my luck although previously had been terrible and deceiving was now finally deciding to show up and the grand red staircase I had entered with my parents was presented right before my eyes.

I was never so happy in all my life and so I shot down the stairs as fast as I possibly could and then out of the main doors, past some very confused guards standing by the main entrance gate and out into Canterlot.

I didn't take it easy for fear of being chased and so I made my way home in record time and by the end of it I could feel the sweat and ash created a horrible texture all over my body and decided it was probably best I took a very long shower before I said hello to my parents.

That would be the tricky part since they thought I was missing and turning up all of a sudden, miraculously unharmed and looking like I work in a chimney sweep business would definitely raise question that would only add to the couple of hundred they were going to yell at me.

However despite all the stress it had been thrilling. I had discovered my cutie mark, found a rare artefact with magical properties which made me invisible and escaped from the Princess of the Sun herself and all her guards.

It was just like I was in some kind of story like Daring Doo or somepony else and although I had managed to stab myself in the hoof with a nail and now probably had some kind of disease which would be the cherry on top of the irony pie.

However I decided that showering was my priority and after pushing the door open and confusing the door pony on duty I made my way up the stairs (leaving dirty black marks all the way) and when I got to my room I gratefully threw the completely annihilated tux to the floor and climbed into the shower.

It was amazing how much ash went down the drain, nearly twenty minutes and still I wasn't clean. However I decided that it would need to suffice and my parents had worried about me for long enough. So I climbed out and after drying myself with the towel, went to say hello to them.

However before I even exited the bathroom I couldn't help but notice my cutie mark which looked sick (In a good way). It was probably going to be another long conversation with my parents since although nopony would mind it probably made me look like I was in a rock band or like some riff raff punks which my Father was always going on about.

I grabbed the amulet I'd set on the table by my wardrobe and after fixing my mane so it was a little straighter I headed through my room to the staircase.

I made my way down the smaller staircase of our house and into the lounge where I believed my parents would be. I was feeling slightly guilty since they were probably worried out of their minds about me but I brushed off the feeling and decided it was for the best.

I entered quietly with the amulet in my hand but instead of a stony silence which I expected there to be all I heard was shouting. I saw my Father standing by the mantle place with eyes which spoke rage and my mother who seemed to be in tears.

By the way they looked I could tell they must have been really upset and I began to tear up but then suddenly my Father yelled "I treated him like a son and all I got was nothing but ignored and disinterest from him"!

My mother was crying worse and worse now and although before I had felt guilty now I was curious what my Father had just said. "Like a son" I thought "A slip of the tongue perhaps" even so I just wanted to see what the next thing he'd say was and so I fastened the amulet around my neck and made my way closer to them.

"He has no interest in living his life for the family and would instead dream about adventuring off to foreign lands to find a bunch of dusty old relics!" yelled my Father, smashing a vase with his hoof and tearing his hair out.

"He's only a little colt" cried my Mother but my Father shook his head furiously and spat "When I was that age I prided on making my first million bits for my Father and I had more friends than he has ever had and yet he takes no interest in making any and it is damaging my reputation"!

My mother was calming down although still fragile as I could see but my Father was still in full swing and he yelled "At least I know whose genes created that messed up mistake, not mine but my cheating, backstabbing wife and probably some lowly servant.

My mother was furious although still crying she stood up and slapped my Father and yelled "You couldn't give me a child so I did what any mare my age would have done. I would never have done it to harm you but I wanted a child and so did you"!

I couldn't believe what I was hearing and without even knowing it the tears which were rolling down my face previously were now like waterfalls as I discover the truth of my birth in the most horrible of ways possible.

My Father was quiet and his face burned bright red. Although he was still angry he went into a silent rage whilst my Mother just stood there and stared at him furiously yet with the tears from previously still clear in his eyes.

My Father touched his tender face and quietly but dangerously told her "Pack your things and get out of this house by tomorrow, you will receive an adequate sum of money and that is all you shall receive. When… If they find your son then you will take him and you can tell him that his Mother was a cheating Whorse and that if I ever see him again he'll have the job of opening and closing the doors for my house".

My Mother was shocked and her eyes showed it but the rest of her was resilient and fuming and she asked "Don't you give a single damn for the child you helped love and raise since he was just a foal"?

My Father or at least the pony I thought had been my Father turned his back and leaned against the fireplace. He thought for several moments before coldly responding "No" and walking away to the drinks cabinet where he indulged in a huge glass of whisky.

My Mother once more began to sob but she had gotten the message and began to leave. However she turned when she was just next to me and for a few moments I thought she could see me and my tears stained face but she had turned to my Father and said "Don't worry Haze I'll make sure that the word spreads about your wife and what she did and also about where your son originated from".

My Father spun round and sloshed the whisky as he did so and exclaimed "You wouldn't dare! You have a reputation to maintain and it would destroy you"! However my Mother just smiled and said "But it would destroy you too which would make it worth it".

My Father turned from red to purple and my Mother just continued to smile however she dropped the smile when my Father's eyes turned dangerous and he threw down the glass which smashed on the floor and stormed over to my Mother who backed away in fear.

"I'll kill you and that little mistake if you tell anypony" he yelled making a grab for her, however I was already way ahead of him and I barrelled into him, knocking him to the floor and away from my Mother.

My Father didn't know I had intervened and believed it was my Mother who had pushed him and he yelled "You little!" and sprang back up with a shard of whisky glass in hiss hoof. My Mother turned away in fear but luckily before anything else happened the door-pony from outside came into the lounge and gasped at the sight he saw before him.

My Mother ran into his arms and began sobbing and my Father stepped back in embarrassment and dropped the shard of glass. The door-pony held my Mother and looked oddly at my Father. More servants began to show up and my Father backed away into the back of the room.

He grabbed the entire bottle of whisky and started to sob as loud as my Mother. I was crying too but I didn't want to be heard and simply let the noise channel into my gut, making me feel a sick. I pushed through the crowd of staring ponies who were not sure how to act and made my way to the front hall.

I felt sick and didn't know what to do. I wasn't my Father's son and by the looks of it I had screwed up their marriage and probably their lives. I was just a mistake and not the pony they wanted me to be.

I looked around the house and saw all the stuff I was one day supposed to inherit. It wasn't mine, I didn't deserve it I didn't deserve anything. I looked out the main doors and decided, I ran out and into the dark night. It began to rain but I didn't care I just needed to get away in a hurry.

I didn't know what to do, where to go and I knew nothing about the world but I made a promise to myself that I would never ever come back here.

**Yay… Chapter 1 completo, if anyone has any ideas they'd like to share PM me or comment in a review. J**


	2. Days Gone By

**Days Gone By**

**10 Years Later…**

"Personally I think that we should keep going Dawn. It's been like ten years since we started our little escapades and in that ten years we have both become very, very rich" my Griffon friend Niles reminded me.

I smiled and shot back "Yeah and we've been shot at, robbed and had so many assassination attempts on our lives that if we keep stealing valuable artefacts and ancient temple relics that we will not be alive to actually spend the money my friend.

He grinned and ruffled his light brown feathers. It had been raining quite heavily recently and the Everfree forest looked quite beautiful if not difficult to walk through. However it hadn't been the first time we'd walked through the forest which many found perilous and scary. Compared with the places I'd been in the last ten years however the forest was like a stroll through the park on a nice summer's day with a picnic on your back.

Niles was a really great partner and friend and I would be lying if I said I'd saved his feather more than he'd saved my fur. Whether it was when we were tied up and prepared to be eaten by savage Zebras in the deepest, darkest depths of Zebricia or whether we were being chased across the rooftops of the kingdom of the apes he always had my back and I had his.

By extension since both of us liked danger, adventure and really shiny things which looked good in our saddlebags and since I had the ability to turn invisible and Niles the ability to fly and grip things which my hooves were incapable of gripping then we were the perfect team to steal things.

Sometimes we stole things from old temples buried in the dessert or jungles and other times we broke into palaces or into vaults where certain evil or powerful weapons or other things were stored by the rulers for security or sentimental reasons. Other times we didn't steal things however and instead we just messed around and challenged each other usually in bars to do outrageous and usually stupid things.

However in recent years the scars had begun to add up, the injuries had gotten worse and worse and the attempts on our lives had increased substantially. "I know we are probably the two most awesome thieves in the world and although I'm by no means feeling the need to slow down my body wants a holiday at least for a few months" I explained stopping in the centre of the road and putting a hoof on his shoulder.

His bright yellow eyes looked into mine and he sighed and looked down. "Fine man if you want a break I have got just the idea" he said and he reached back into his saddlebag and retrieved a rolled parchment with a large C encrusted seal on it and a red ribbon tied around it.

I had seen many seals but this one was very new to me. Niles noticed my curiosity and grinned and asked "So you in"? I tried to say no but then again what kind of danger seeking daredevil would I be If I turned down a potentially great adventure.

"Of course I'm in you big bird!" I said grinning and patting him on the back. He smiled and undid the seal and stretched out the parchment to reveal some very finely written words. Before I could read them however he cleared his throat and read "My dearest faithful Student… blah… blah… blah I am very happy you are studying friendship in Ponyville and would just like to say… something… something to do with defeating a moon… I have arranged the position of full time librarian in the Ponyville library so that you may easily be in proximity to a place of knowledge… and the rest is useless" finished Niles, closing the parchment.

I stared at him and he stared at me as I tried to figure out how he could have gotten a letter like that and what the information was supposed to mean. He saw my confusion and explained "A discharged guard swiped it from Celestia's room just before he left and while in Saddle Arabia he traded It for a few thousand bits".

"What are we supposed to steal from a librarian?" I asked in confusion but Niles explained "Well since you wanted a holiday you may as well help us break into the vault in Canterlot which contains some magical Elements of Harmony which is like a weapon which is supposed to keep harmony or something like that, anyway I got an offer for over ten million bits if we can deliver the elements to some kind of cult residing in a forest near the Badlands. I hear the Princess of the Sun keeps locked up tight with magical enchantments and other things but if I can find my way into the Griffon Diplomatic Embassy and if you could make a deal or trick this student then we can probably infiltrate the castle and find our way into the vault".

The plan sounded stupid and I asked "Can't I just sneak in with the amulet and find some kind of key to open it"? Niles shook his head and explained "It's a magical door protected by magical enchantments, only a Unicorn of high grade skill which knows the style of Celestia could ever break into such a place and I'm sorry to say that you aren't a Unicorn and I'm a griffon so this will need to be one of the sneakiest break-ins we've ever attempted my friend".

"I don't know Niles, I was cool about all the other robberies we've done but I don't like the idea of robbing Equestria of such a protective weapon" I said not sure about this escapade. Niles's eyes hardened slightly and he said "Look, I was cool when we robbed my homeland and so far the most we've done in Equestria is get seriously drunk and have one of the wildest times of my life but besides that we've left Equestria untouched".

I grinned at the memory of that night and chuckled "Remember that one mare. What was her name"? Niles laughed and punched me on the shoulder and replied "Turntable, boy was her Father mad at you when you told him you did not want to be her husband". "Yeah he chased us all the way to Appleoosa with his casino staff and that tiger" laughed Niles.

I nodded at the good memories and he said "You see it'll be easy to get Celestia's student on our side you stud and meanwhile I think I still have an Uncle in the Embassy and that'll get me in and able to move more or less freely and hopefully find the location of the vault and the layout of the castle".

I was surprised and asked "This nerd is a mare"? He nodded and said "Yeah, don't worry she'll practically throw yourself into your arms when she sees you I bet she doesn't get a lot of requests from other stallions". I nodded and asked "So where do I go to get to Ponyville from here"?

Niles unslung his firearm from his back and his other bag and explained "I won't be needing these in Canterlot It'll just raise questions so you take them and hide them, I don't think many ponies know of the firearms of the kingdom of the apes but I'm not giving up one of the most advanced weapons of the age if I can help it".

He handed me his stuff and I slung it all over my bag. I was now weighed down quite a lot by my stuff and Nile's but I was stronger than I had been ten years ago. Niles adjusted his satchel and pointed down the path and explained "I'm going to head north, you will need to head west when we get to the junction in the road but now that I don't have so many things on my back I'll fly to Canterlot so, good luck my friend".

With that Niles shook my hoof before springing into the air and flying like faster than probably most pegasi through the air until he was but a dot in the sky. "Show off!" I yelled after him and squirmed slightly under all the weight I was carrying and set off West to Ponyville and my official working vacation.

The going was tough and I was fairly annoyed when it started to rain but then again I supposed the Everfree could rain whenever it wanted since there was no magical climate system like Cloudsdale weather ponies to keep the weather system in check.

However the walk although miserable and soggy only lasted an hour and I found myself gazing at the most ridiculously cute town I'd ever laid eyes upon. It had houses which looked like cakes, a train station with a train that looked like a cake and from what I could see a gigantic oak tree smack dead near the centre.

To the east away from me I could see an Apple Orchard which went on for acres and acres and eventually melded with the Everfree forest. I had to admit that by far this was the most interesting and non-threatening town I had ever had the chance to visit and so I proceeded with haste into the town.

The first thing I noticed when entering the outskirts was the rain continued from the Everfree forest and into Ponyville which was great as nopony was around to see my entrance. I had no idea where I was or whether the tiny town had a hotel or a tavern or anyplace that I could stay in but the biggest building in its centre must have been the town hall which I dismissed not wanting to get noticed by any officials.

The only other building I noticed was a gigantic cake shop which funnily enough looked like a pink cake. Instead of admiring the architecture and questioning how in Equestria they were able to get that cake texture I pushed through to the door in an attempt to get out of the rain.

However the door was shut and a note was hammered into the front with the smudging words "Back in five minutes on the door". I sighed and looked around the town. I spotted the large oak tree I'd seen ten minutes ago over the roofs of some house and decided that at least I'd be able to stay relatively dry underneath the large branches.

So I set off and after taking a shortcut through a back alley I had made my way to the oak tree which to my surprise turned out to be some kind of house with windows, a balcony and a red door with a candle painted on it.

"How quaint" I murmured under my breath before deciding to knock and ask shelter from the ponies who live here. I knocked for a full minute but when nopony responded I couldn't help but push the door open silently and walk in.

I pressed the amulet attached to my cloak and instantly I was invisible. I didn't really want to be found inside another pony's home but the rain was really bad out there. However when I turned around I knew immediately that this was noponys home but instead the very thing I'd wanted to originally find.

There were books everywhere. I was surrounded by books which by my awesome powers of investigation meant that this must be the library which Niles had mentioned which meant the all-powerful student of Celestia's must be around here somewhere.

Although I was confident in the abilities I'd learned in sneaking, fighting and most of all running-away over the years of my travels the thought of trespassing on a powerful Unicorn's home was very unnerving to say the least.

However I didn't think about that and instead relieved my back of the weight of all my bags. This would mean they would no longer be invisible but I was in Equestria, the nicest place in the world free of crime and corruption… mostly.

Although the rifle slung around my back was designed for that of a being with fingers like the apes I kept it with me since not even the magic of a Unicorn could protect them from the speeding bullet of a gun.

However I couldn't hit a barn whilst standing a metre away from it with this thing and it would be hard to squeeze the trigger with my hooves. Still though it was comforting having a one-up on a potential enemy besides the fact I was invisible.

However I also realized I wasn't spying or actually on any mission apart from making friends for now and enjoying my vacation and I had a few months to complete this mission so part of me told myself that I should stop being so uptight and relax. However the other part told me I should set a trap and take cover behind the counter in wait of this Unicorn mare.

However as my brain battled over what to do my notorious curiosity began to wonder over the shelves of the library. There was anatomy, fiction, romance, drama, history, skills and much more. I noticed the rather large collection of Daring Doo books and took a tented step towards them.

However I stopped myself as I was about to touch the spine and whispered "No" under my breath and stepped away. "Damn it brain why is it so hard to relax" I thought but then was surprised when a ray of Sunshine appeared on my chest and looking outside the window I saw that it had stopped raining and now the sun was fully visible high in the sky.

Then suddenly without warning a yellow Pegasus came through the door. I was taken completely aback and nearly fell over a bookshelf. The mare was yellow with a light pink mane and tail and she looked around shyly and a with a small amount of fear, at least what I could tell anyway.

This couldn't be the librarian but it was still somepony different and I was little taken aback. There weren't many mares in Saddle Arabia that were shorter than me and it had been maybe two years since I'd been in Equestria.

She looked around a little more before saying in a soft and almost whispering voice "Ok angel its clear". Suddenly a little bunny rabbit came in dragging a bucket of soapy water and a sponge along with a collection of birds, squirrels and other woodland critters. It seemed as though they were going to clean the library and I wondered if the librarian and student of Princess Celestia had hired them.

The yellow Pegasus began to set fallen books upright and generally tidy up. She spotted my and Niles's packs and I sweated for a moment as she looked curiously at them. There was nothing very dangerous in the packs but a lot of gems, bits and maybe the odd relic of mass destruction buried at the very bottom.

However the mare didn't go prying and instead tidied them into a corner before getting the soapy water and sponge and proceeding to clean along the shelves and the walls. Meanwhile her very comical little friend hopped his way into the kitchen and returned with a chef's hat and a bowl of salad.

So the mare and the bunny worked at their tasks of washing up and mixing salad and after five minutes the mare began to hum a very catchy little tune I thought I'd heard before but couldn't quite put my hoof on.

I waited with my rifle prepped at the far end of the room in the hope that nothing else would happen that might ask questions and lead to my discovery. However soon enough I wasn't worrying about my bags or the possibility of anypony bumping into me as the door opened slowly whilst the Pegasus was still humming and cleaning along the last bookshelf.

There was an audible sigh and a rather stressed female voice exclaimed "Oh Fluttershy not you too"! I couldn't see yet but when the mare came into the door the full memory of it hit me. The silky lavender coat, the strange mane a mix of light purple, dark purple and pink and of course the Starry magical cutie mark and violet eyes.

I couldn't help it and my tongue slipped and I stuttered out "T-T-Twilight"! I put my hooves over my mouth in the hope that I hadn't been heard but even I knew that I'd spoken quite outright and both mares looked around the library Twilight asking "Did you even bring helpers to help you get the ticket"?

The yellow one shook her head furiously and began to retreat right up close to her friend. I cursed my mouth and took a step back, knocking over a small podium with a book atop it. The other two noticed this and Twilight's magic flared and she demanded "Whose there"?

Of course the situation was getting worse and the yellow one didn't make it easier by adding "What if it's a ghost? What If it's an angry ghost?!" and generally being skittish. I decided I'd return for my stuff and a chat with Twilight (whom I was still having trouble accepting was actually here) a little later maybe without the invisibility.

However as I snuck past the two unsuspecting mares without them seeing me and silently opened the door. However when I did a sudden fanfare seemed to explode and confetti reigned and the next thing I knew pink hooves which must have originally been aiming for Twilight grabbed me and flung me towards a group of mares.

The mares and the pink pony were suddenly confused no doubt wondering what the pink one had grabbed when there was clearly nothing in sight and I didn't want to see what their reaction would be when they felt and invisible weight land in their hooves and instead span through the air and landed next to them.

As I did so however my hoof bumped against the amulet and immediately I was no longer invisible and everypony could see me. Twilight and the yellow one which I believe Twilight called Fluttershy gaped and all the other mares stared and the pink one's eyes seemed to flash from side to side.

I considered my options and although diffusing the situation would be hard when explaining how I'd broken into Twilight's home, watched Fluttershy clean whilst all the time being invisible and then being grabbed by the hyperactive pink one would be difficult to lie about I also knew that I would never be able to convince her nicely to use her magic if I didn't start off on a good hoof.

However my legs had other plans and before I knew it I was bolting down the road I'd come up from. Nopony chased me but then Twilight yelled "Stop that Pony and suddenly it seemed everypony in the town was behind me.

I ducked into an alleyway and pressed my amulet before I leapt towards the nearest window possible. After grabbing it and using my momentum to swing to a higher one I finally pulled myself up and was on the roof of the building.

The mob seemed confused when they turned the corner to see me gone but a few ponies went to the end of the alleyway to check to see if I was there. I wiped the sweat from my brow and gave a long sigh. "Next time lose the invisible act" I told myself but then again it was very hard to do so.

Ever since I'd picked it up all those years ago I'd never been without it and I'd gotten used to its power. When the jewel was pressed it was like an on and off switch and it seemed that myself and everything I touched whilst it was active would be invisible. I also found that after using it for several hours it gave you a terrible headache so I never had it on when I didn't need it.

Before doing anything I sat down on the roof and put my hoof over my head. How could I forget that Twilight was studying under the Princess all those years ago, that she was also living in a library was also another hint I should have picked up on.

It seemed strange to see her after all these years. No longer had the little filly that lied for the colt that fell down the chimney al covered in soot. "The note mentioned friendship studies but from what I recall she wasn't exactly the most sociable pony in Canterlot" I thought but figured that then again neither was I.

I got up and decided that it might be best to leave the threatening weapon and the invisible amulet on the rooftop and after I set them down I activated the amulet so that nopony would accidentally stumble on it and take it away. There was a danger that it would be lost but I had managed to find it always so far and I didn't want to waste time in finding a place to stay when my bags and identity might be discovered at any moment.

I waited a few hours none the less until darkness approached and I dropped my cloak and decided to walk as a normal pony and since I had ran with my cloak up I was confident nopony would recognize me.

I climbed down from the rooftop slowly and was careful not to slip. The alleyway I had climbed up was clear now and the mob had dispersed. However when I stepped out into the street I was startled to see more ponies than ever running around although it seemed they were more excited than angry or afraid.

Also it appeared that the majority were mares although I hadn't seen a large concentration of stallions since I got here so it might just be a coincidence. I stepped forwards cautiously and watched them as they began running closer and closer to me. I stayed the instinct to run and was rewarded when they ran past me without any recognition of the pony they were chasing earlier.

I wondered if there was another reason for the mob to be running around like foals in a candy store but I just shrugged and went briskly on my way to the library. "If it's a library then technically I should be able to frequent it whenever I want" I thought but then again it was also Twilight's home and it was like 10 o'clock at night.

I supposed it wouldn't hurt to politely knock once or twice and if nopony answered come back invisible later and break in and then somehow retrieve my stuff without alerting Twilight. Even thinking about that idea sounded stupid.

I arrived at the library which I had been snooping in earlier and to my great surprise I saw that the door was wide open and nopony was to be seen. "Odd" I murmured under my breath and had a peek inside to see if it was some kind of trap.

Not seeing any ropes, wires or nets I took a tentative step forwards and cautiously made my way into the centre of the room. There was nopony in sight and I couldn't hear any hoof-steps. I saw my saddlebags still in the corner were the yellow Pegasus Fluttershy had pushed them earlier that day.

I was thankful that nopony was here and decided I should split and find a place to sleep before it hit midnight but before I could do anything the door shut behind me. I dived behind some bookshelves and silently peaked around the corner to see who had so suddenly entered.

It was Twilight and what looked like a little purple hedgehog which on further inspection was actually a baby dragon. It was a really strange sight to behold since I'd seen some pretty mighty and usually mad dragons right after I'd stolen some of their priceless treasure and high-tailed out of their lair.

However this little purple dragon looked harmless enough and his green spikes didn't seem to even be sharp enough to slice though cheese. "Wow that was great meal Twilight, sure was nice of the others to take us out for dinner after trying to nab those tickets off of ya" it spoke with a high pitched voice which surprised me since dragons voices sounded a little like fog horns.

Twilight yawned quite audibly and smiled and I could see visibly that she was tired as she said "I'm just glad I was able to solve the situation without letting anypony down… and also get something to eat" she giggle patting her stomach.

That reminded me I really had to eat something eventually as I hadn't eaten all day and the last thing I wanted was to spend a night at the local hospital. "I'm pretty tired Spike I think we should go to bed immediately considering all that strange fiasco with that ghost pony today" she said with a shake of her mane.

"I don't get it, was it a ghost or a real pony because everypony thinks it was a ghost which means maybe it's still here" said the dragon Spike with a little fear as he looked wide-eyes around the library.

"Oh Spike you watch too many movies, it was certainly strange and I definitely have to file a report about this to the Princess but that can wait until tomorrow" she said and began to walk up some side steps to her room upstairs.

I thanked Celestia that I had gotten away with this and prepared to spring into action as soon as they left upstairs however I was shocked when Spike pointed out "Whose Saddlebags are these"? The bags were quite close to me and I knew I'd be spotted so I quickly looked around for a better place to hide but couldn't find anything but the nearby fireplace.

"Damn it why is it always me who gets stuck with hiding up the chimney" I thought but wasted no time in scrambling up there. Although the years of fighting, sneaking and running away had honed my body quite nicely I wasn't a colt anymore and it was quite a squeeze to fit into the chimney.

I listened closely as Spike and Twilight trotted over to my belongings and Twilight took up a long "Hmm" as she looked over them. "I believe that somepony must have left them here this morning whilst I was trying to get something to eat and maybe forgot to come back for them" she suggested but Spike didn't buy and asked "What if they belong to the ghost"!

I really hoped Twilight listened to what the sensible choice would be and didn't look in the bag but instead of looking in it she was drawn to what was on it and pointed out "This symbol of the ponies cutie mark, I-I think I might have seen it before but I'm not sure where".

I sweated as Twilight began to think and silently prayed to Celestia that the memory of my Cutie Mark was jumbled up in her big brain along with all that history and magical knowledge that she'd probably learned over the years.

"Must have been somepony in Ponyville, I think we should just leave them upstairs for tonight and if the pony comes back to claim them then we'll hand them over. I heard Spike huff and could tell he didn't like it but then I heard Twilight and spike shoulder my bags and retreat upstairs for a night's sleep.

I slowly climbed down the chimney and noticed I hadn't gotten too sooty like all the other times. I cursed my misfortune but wasn't in the mood to start blaming anypony but myself since I'd so greatly made the situation into something so delicate that if it was touched by even a whisker it would shatter and my chances of nicely convincing Twilight to hand over the elements would be gone and I'd have to force her.

I didn't like the sound of the second option and even the first one made me feel a bit guilty. She'd looked out for me so long ago and without her I would probably never have discover my cutie mark or the amulet which had saved my life so many times before today.

I slowly shook my wave of reluctance off of me and reminded myself that Niles was counting on me and what kind of a daredevil would I be if I wouldn't even trick a mare who I hadn't seen since I was a colt into betraying her ruler and mentor.

I slowly made my way past the bookshelves and began to creep upstairs; the floorboards creaked so I adjusted my weight and silently crept up to the top floor. It was a nice room with a big window and a bed which I could see Twilight dozing peacefully in. Spike was in what looked like a dog's bed at the other end of the small room and my bags were right behind him.

I took a deep breath and rubbed my hooves together and slowly my way over to my belongings. I bent down and picked up the straps to my first bag with my teeth and pulled it onto my back. Spike did not stir and I confidently bent down and pulled the other bag up as well. The final bag was trickier so I was careful with how I handled getting this one and so I moved a little closer.

I bent down to pick it up but as I did so the little arms of Spike grabbed my leg and hugged it tightly before I could pull away. I stopped myself from yelling out and looked down in alarm. He seemed to be having some kind of good dream and mumbled somepony's name that I couldn't quite catch. However I wasn't particularly worried about what lovely dreams he was experiencing because right now I was stuck in a nightmare.

My heart beat sped up and I could feel sweat gushing from my body. I tried to move a little but he just tightened his grip on me and began to nuzzle my leg. "Okay time for plan B" I thought to myself and wrestle round until my face was in my saddlebag. I nosed around until I found the vile I believed I was looking for.

It was a strong concoction made by the Zebras which I and Niles usually used to knock out guards but I supposed it could come in handy here as well. I brought it around and carefully, with some manoeuvring pulled the stopper out with my teeth before then proceeding to dash a little of the red powder on the dragons face.

The little guy opened his eyes a little and tried to get up before going completely limp and hitting his bed like a stone. He proceeded to let go of my arm and suck his thumb which to meant that I had successfully knocked out a baby dragon.

Putting the little guilt aside I quickly grabbed my other bag and crept out of there but not before I stopped to look at Twilight. I had to admit that she looked really cute when she was sleeping and I could just imagine her being the same studious filly as always just like in Canterlot.

I wondered what happened after I… left. Did she tell anypony about me? Did she have a good childhood? Lots of questions which I wanted to ask her bubbled up inside me and I almost couldn't wait until tomorrow, however I then looked at her side table and saw the picture of her family.

It was her brother, Father and Mother along with her in the middle all smiling happily. Her Mother was in a stunning dress and her Father in a handsome suit whilst her brother was wearing what looked to be lieutenants Uniform in the Royal Guard. They all looked so happy and as a family.

I felt a small jab at my heart and decided I should really be leaving. I made my way as quick as I could downstairs without waking Twilight up and then carefully opened the front door which was unlocked and then out into the darkness of Ponyville.

I couldn't help but feel sad with what I'd seen about Twilight and how happy her life seemed to be. I began to think about my old life and my parents but then I spoke furiously to myself "No! You promised you'd never go back, not ever" and I stopped thinking.

I had a job to do and that was that, I didn't have to know anything about the past all I needed was for Twilight to be convinced to open the vault I didn't have to be her friend. I also needed a place to stay and I remembered also my things I needed to retrieve. I looked around Ponyville to see if anypony was actually still awake for this time of night before setting off.

Retrieving my gear was a piece of cake and then the spirits seemed to be finally cutting me a break as the very house I'd left my stuff on had there light on and a sign in the window said "Lodger Wanted".

It was a pretty standard house painted green at the top with a flowerpot by the window upstairs and the door was a nice and vibrant red which I liked. I knocked at the doo and set all my stuff down as I waited for somepony to answer it.

The door opened and out stepped an Earth pony with a beige coat and a blue mane with a pink stripe down the middle of it. She had three sweets for a cutie mark and seemed generally quite cheerful when she saw me.

"Are you here about the sign?" she asked hopefully and I just nodded and she seemed to put on a victorious face and punched the air with her hoof. "I told you somepony would come eventually Lyra!" she yelled to somepony called Lyra in the house before she sheepishly turned to me and beckoned "Come on in"!

I entered the house and set my bags down whilst she took down the sign from her window and introduced herself. "My name is Bon Bon and I along with Lyra whose the mare I was shouting to and is currently down in the basement working on her… project own this house".

There was a pause and I could tell it was my turn to speak so I put on my most charming smile and said "It's wonderful to meet you Miss, my name is Dawn and I'd love to be your lodger"! The mare seemed thrilled and went to retrieve a form. She pointed out all the parts I had to sign and all the costs I would contribute towards (which I didn't particularly bother about) before asking "Do you need anything before I show you to your room"?

I was quite hungry but I was also quite tired so I just shook my head and Bon Bon smiled. "I'd show you Lyra but she's a little indisposed right now" she set biting her cheek. I could tell there was a little tension on something between them but I didn't pry. All I really wanted was a base of operations in which to work and hopefully relax.

Bon Bon went up the stairs and I followed her up, dragging my bags as I went until we were in a small corridor. She led me to the last room in the end and pushed the door open to see a very plain, blue walled room with a small bed and desk inside and a little wardrobe in the corner.

"It's not much but I was going to put a radio in here eventually" remarked Bon Bon and I smiled and replied "That's okay Miss, it's beautiful like many of the things I've seen since I arrived in Ponyville today". She blushed and I smiled lightly before she replied "Well you are sweet but you should really go to Sugar Cube corner tomorrow and meet Pinkie Pie if you're new as all ponies get a surprise party".

I was confused but before I could ask anything else she simply smiled and said "Goodnight" before closing the door and trotting happily off back down the stairs. It got very quiet suddenly and I didn't like it.

I looked out the window and saw the street lights of Ponyville. It was a cute little town with many nice elements but not much potential for adventure and danger. Then again this was supposed to be a little break from that and I had kind of asked for it so...

However I didn't like the way things had gone. Seeing Twilight was a surprise and I wasn't sure if it was a good one or a bad one. I didn't like Pony's from my old life and I didn't like the ones who knew who I really was or at least who I used to be.

I might have grown up, changed my hair style and gained a few nicks along the way but knowing that there was a pony that could identify my cutie mark scared me. Also that the pony happened to be the only pony who'd probably befriended me before Niles and who'd saved my flank was hard to except especially since it was my job to get her to open a vault I knew she'd never open under normal circumstances.

I sat on the comfortable bed and put my packs down next to me. I put Nile's things inside the wardrobe before I took a gander at what things I had with me. The bags of bits I hid in the desk along with a few dozen big and priceless gems. Then I put some fancy relics and scrolls along with them before I rested my cloak on top of them and then my amulet and activated it so that anypony who came in wouldn't find anything to be suspicious of.

I rested the bolt action rifle above the wardrobe and intended never to take it down and hopefully never fire it by extension whilst on holiday but still I checked to make sure it was loaded. I then set the empty bags down and took out the fancy quill I had bought in Saddle Arabia which came from some bird which caught fire and Ink sourced from a giant squid which Niles had given to me after I'd complained we didn't have anything to write down our plans with.

I knew that writing down a plan was bad if it was to ever be discovered but then I was terrible when it came to remembering things. Unable to think of anything but how this job would be done I stood over the desk and begin to write the ways in which I could get Twilight to open the vault.

I considered four options they were "By force, by seduction, by trickery or by manipulation" all of which I felt guilty even for associating with Twilight. I would definitely never ever want to use force and although I liked my chances Twilight wasn't some common tart in Las Pegasus and although charming as I was she discover me and then my task would be even harder to complete.

Trickery might work since she was a student of the Princess's and if Niles was able to get into the Griffon's Diplomatic Relations then maybe he could forge a letter and I could deliver it. Then again that would be too risky.

She had a lot of friends which was handy to use and maybe if I could just convince one of them then I might be able to get them to retrieve the Elements by just asking Twilight but then what would her friends want with these so called all powerful weapons.

I realised that I could in no way choose any single one of these choices unless I knew what I was dealing with. Even when we robbed something we did a little background check just to see what we were dealing with but those things were always objects and at one point I think we accidentally stole a Persian cat but this was a pony I was trying to get to open a vault and not a break in job or a simple threat which would take away this Pony's will as Twilight I was sure was stronger than pony's I'd threatened in the past.

I made my decision there and then that instead of charging into the fire like an idiot I would instead maybe follow Twilight and some of her friends and maybe ask around the town for other information like where they worked and then maybe try and find out what the Elements of Harmony really were and what they really did.

I yawned and realised it was past midnight and I wanted an early start tomorrow. The night was hot so simply slept on top of the covers and stared up at the ceiling. I was unnerved by the job but I had promised Niles and for him to go crawling to his Uncle and look like he wanted to work as a diplomat must have been tough since I knew for a fact that Niles was also not on the best of terms with his family either.

I stopped worrying about the other reason I was here however and told myself "You are going to have a nice holiday as well" before I closed my eyes and began to dream.

**Thank you everyone that reviewed you've really inspired me to continue J Any ideas then please Pm me or review.**


	3. It Was Just so Shiny

**It Was Just so… Shiny**

**The Next Day…**

I awoke the next day to the rather pleasing sounds of birds chirping and singing merry little songs right by the window of my new temporary home. Although I would have loved to sleep in and forget about all my troubles I was also completely famished and wished I had accepted the offer from the sweet mare Bon Bon yesterday.

So my first objective before I could think about Twilight or The Elements of whatever was to get some breakfast. So I left my room and took a quick shower in the bathroom next door, washing the small amount of soot I'd picked up yesterday from hiding in Twilight's chimney.

I wondered if they would remember the design on the bag of my cutie mark and made a mental note to buy something to block it or maybe paint over it with washable paint like I'd done in past times when trying to fool guards or pass by undetected without using by lucky little charm.

I got out of the shower and made my way quietly past Bon Bon's and Lyra's rooms just in case they weren't awake yet. I had yet to meet Lyra although from the sounds of it she spent a lot of time doing something in the house's basement.

I shrugged and decided that if I investigated then it would be rude and if anything I wasn't looking to get kicked out of such a nice place just yet. So without making too much noise I snuck down the stairs and out of the house to a gloriously sunny day.

No clouds were in sight and the air had a fine sense of freshness that you didn't come across often nowadays. Ponies went by their business, laughing, talking, walking and selling things in a nearby small marketplace where various venders sold fruit, vegetables and small trinkets.

I needed to look like a tourist so I needed some tourist looking clothes but since I had absolutely no idea of the town and since I was very hungry I decided to visit Sugercube Corner which I remembered Bon Bon saying something about yesterday but what it was I was not sure.

There were no mobs going by and it seemed that the entire ghost pony thing had died down entirely for which I was glad but I didn't like the chances of ponies recognising me so I walked briskly. The shop wasn't hard to find and since it was now open I could see inside that it was a very brightly decorated shop which sold cakes of all sizes, colours and styles.

There was a nice looking plump mare behind the shop counter and in the corner of the shop I was surprised to see the pink mare which was one of Twilight's friends entertaining some colts and fillies with dancing, cartwheeling, spinning round and round and other gags which she performed at a hundred miles per hour.

"Good afternoon" said the plump mare kindly "I'm Mrs Cake. How can I help you"? She was a sweet old mare and I smiled and asked "Do you know anyplace around here that I can buy some clothes and the maybe find out a bit of tourist information whilst I'm here?" I asked and the mare smiled and replied "Well there are shops near the marketplace in the south of town and if you want more information I suppose the library is the best place to head to" she said smiling.

Although I was disappointed with her answer as I didn't want to go to the library I nodded and smiled before asking "You wouldn't happen to have any muffins would you"? Mrs Cake chuckled and shook her head as if I'd asked a ridiculous question and replied "Oh no dearie we don't but maybe somepony around here sells them".

I gave one last smile and she bid me goodbye and I exited the shop. Well I would have left but unfortunately for me the crazy pink friend of Twilight jumped me just as I put my hoof out the door and she instantly had me pinned.

"Aha" she said triumphantly and pointed her hoof at me in accusation of something. My heartbeat instantly rocketed and I prayed that she was just jumping me because she liked my looks and not because she recognised me from yesterday as the invisible pony.

"You thought you could get away with it didn't you? Thought you could just slip past old Pinkie Pie without me seeing well you're in big trouble mister" said the hyperactive pony as she grinned triumphantly.

I was a little ashamed that I had been found out by a mare who looked like she was stuck in the land of candy and miracles but she had caught me and I suppose I had some explaining to do so I swallowed hard and began to speak. "Yeah well I can explain" I began but she interrupted me and shouted "Yeah you can explain everything about yourself when I throw you the most super, fun, spectacular welcome to Ponyville party ever"!

I was completely taken aback as she got off me and proceeded to bounce around me and explain how amazing it was to meet a new pony and fifty different ways to bake cakes using shampoo or something too fast for me to identify.

"That's really kind but I'm just a tourist passing through and don't want any party thanks" I said but she shook her head and replied "But Bon Bon said you're staying with her and Lyra so how can you just be a tourist?" she asked and that also caught the attention of Mrs Cake.

I sheepishly grinned and thought fast before responding "Ha you found me out… I'm just viewing Ponyville to see if it's a nice enough town to live in and then maybe in the future I'll make living here permanent".

The crazy pink pony gasped and cried "I must throw you a Welcome to Ponyville Party immediately just so you know how totally amazing it is to live here"! "She's going on and on and on, jeez does this mare ever run out of breath?!" I asked myself and with a sigh told her bluntly "I'm sorry but I'm not very much into parties Miss Pie but if you wish to do something if anything then please-please-please let me just leave and forget about throwing me a party".

Pinkie Pie seemed to think about it for a moment before she decided "I think that all you need is a pick me up. Moving into a new town can be really-really stressful and I know just the way to relieve stress… with a PARTY!" she exclaimed.

I was pretty annoyed with this mare but then again the other side of my brain told me that she was a friend of Twilight's and her childish ways probably made her a little careless when it came to revealing information.

I tested upon this theory by asking her "Well Pinkie I would absolutely love a party tonight but I need to ask first. Are you friends with the student of Princess Celestia? Her eyes seemed to bulge at that moment and she nodded furiously and answered "You bet. Twilight and me are best of friends along with the other harmony bearers cause you see we're all The Elements of Harmony which it like super cool because the first time we got them we like defeated Nightmare Moon who was actually Princess Luna except transformed into a big meanie and…" I had to cut her off there by asking "What do you mean you're an element bearer"!?

The pink pony looked puzzled and asked "You don't get around a lot do you? Me and my friends are all the bearers of The Elements of Harmony which the Princess keeps in Canterlot so they are kept safe, me and Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and good ol' Applejack are all bearers, which reminds me I totally have got to go and…" she was cut off however by a strange rumbling which suddenly made a lot of objects begin to shake throughout the store.

The rumbling got worse and everypony including me looked outside to see what looked like a gigantic cloud of dust heading our way. "I don't remember Equestria having the ability to create dust storms" I murmured but then out of nowhere in the sky a cyan Pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail shot out of a nearby cloud and yelled "Stampede"!

This got everypony's attention and suddenly there was a chorus of screams followed by the locking of doors and everypony pulling their vases or door mats inside their houses. Pinkie Pie just chuckled and began to move along the rapidly vibrating ground at a constant rate and exclaimed "This makes my voice sound funny" and laughing crazily.

That's when I once again saw her. Twilight Sparkle must have been walking nearby and exclaimed to Pinkie "Pinkie are you crazy? Run!" before galloping off to a safer distance herself. "I seriously couldn't believe that I had been in this town for less than two days and already it seemed that a mob and stampedes were springing up as if daring for me to intervene.

However as I peered out from Sugercube Corner I saw I didn't have to do anything as somepony else seemed to be managing the herd of what looked like cows racing across the pleasant planes to the town.

A mare with a cowboy hat and an orange coat with a blond mane was shouting something to her canine companion who barked alongside her. The mare suddenly lassoed the leading cow and along with her dog began to steer her over to the side. The rest of the herd followed just before the mad cows hit the bridge and a crowd of ponies cheered.

I couldn't see Twilight anymore but I knew she'd probably be in there somewhere so I left the street and decided to head to the stores Pinkie had talked about although they might have all taken cover when they heard the earthquake of cows thundering towards the town.

I strolled along as vendors seemed to pop up from underneath there stalls and begin gossiping about the small catastrophe which almost occurred. These were fruit and vegetable vendors and although I was absolutely starving I contained the hunger eating away at me in search for some clothing first.

I looked around and eventually saw a sign with a hat on it which I imagined must have been the store. Although I had so many bits it was hard to count I always loved the challenge of stores and figured that since I was on holiday I should just challenge myself to a game of take what isn't yours and don't pay for it.

I opened the door and a bell signalled the cashier behind a desk with a till on the end that I had entered and he stood up from where he'd been cowering behind the desk and asked "Is the stampede gone?" in a voice which dripped with the words "I am a suck-up".

I nodded and he sighed in relief and asked "Do you need some assistance sir"? I shook my head but then as an idea occurred to me I asked "Do you have a red dotted caps with little green ridges on them and the sign saying "I love Ponyville" on them"?

The cashier looked a little surprised and commented "That's quite a precise piece of clothing you want there sir… unfortunately I think we just might be fresh out of those". I looked at him pleadingly and asked "Could you please just have a little look in the back to see if you have one?" adding everything to my sincerity except the puppy dog eyes.

His eyes seemed to soften and he said "Wait right here, I think that maybe I might have got some In a few months ago". He toddled off and left me all alone in the store without any supervision. "Pony's round here seem to be so gullible and careless, it almost takes the fun out of it" I said aloud as I picked up a nearby shopping bag on the counter and began to pile clothes into it whilst the cashier shouted "I can't seem to find one but I shall look in the cellar for you sir" followed by the sound of much crashing, banging and general rummaging from the back.

I didn't feel bad about taking the stuff, this guy obviously didn't deserve to run a business If he could trust somepony like me to be left alone. That's why I never left my valuables in plain sight and always made an attempt to hide them from prying eyes but then some ponies called this paranoid yet I looked at it as safety measures.

I went to leave but spotted a small tart with cherries on them by the looks of it and swiped it from the desk of the cashier before proceeding to take a bite of the scrumptious treat. It tasted of more than cherries, more like victory.

I exited the store with the bag held tightly in my mouth and went on my way back to Bon Bon and Lyra's house. On the way however I was stopped when I saw a local vendor selling cameras. They were the flash bulb type of film cameras and a little outdated but then again a camera would add to my image as a tourist and help to capture any images I might need whilst under the persona.

I went over to the store and practically took the camera from under her nose. It was so confusing how nopony guards their wares like they did in Saddle Arabia where I'd seen marketplaces so big that ponies who had attempted to steal from old mares running fruit stalls and they'd nearly gotten their fore-limbs cut off when they discovered that she had a machete under the stall the entire time.

Here there was just no challenge, no commitment and in a way it was kind of depressing and made me feel a little bored. However I kept telling myself "I wanted this" although I gritted my teeth when thinking about it.

However all thoughts seemed to disappear from my mind when I saw it. It was just so… so shiny and gold and more importantly about a hundred or so ponies were looking directly at it and it was just begging… begging to be taken.

I saw a stage which was set up right next to the Town Hall and it seemed an award ceremony was going to be taking place. "This is more like it" I said to myself before ducking into an alleyway and rifling through the bag of stolen goods which I had… well stolen.

I donned a red cap and a terrible green floral shirt and finally the camera which I strapped around my neck. I probably looked like the worst dressed tourist in Equestria but then my taste in fashion was always said to be quite stale.

I walked out of the alleyway and stared down the street at the Town Hall where more and more pony's seemed to be gathering for the award event. I got another good look at the trophy and couldn't help but rub my hooves together as I drew up the plan in my head.

The stage was small so I couldn't hide underneath it and cut a hole through the top to drag the trophy down. It was a fairly large sized trophy and although I doubted it was made of gold I was positive that by the way it seemed to make a small impression on the stage, which would be barely noticeable to the untrained eyes but to mine I could see clearly that the trophy was weighing heavily upon the stage.

Everypony had their attention on the stage but after the stamped this morning I guessed that they would be easily scared and distracted by loud noises and by the looks of it the best way to get an entire crowd to change their attention from the front of a stage was to do something irregular.

The final thing I would need in my plan was a way to get the trophy away without anypony noticing and in a hurry but dragging it would take too much time and make too much noise which I didn't have. However looking at the town hall I saw that the roof seemed to be free of anypony and by the looks of it I could easily climb to the top, hook the trophy with some rope and pull the trophy to freedom.

Well a kind of freedom but I knew that the trophy would be so much more happy to be in my possession. Somepony bumped into me from behind but I paid no heed until a female's voice said "Oh do excuse me" and I wheeled round to see it was Twilight Sparkle.

"Ah" I cried and jumped back before I turned my head slightly to the side so that she wouldn't get a good look at my face. She looked worried for a moment and asked "Are you all right?" to which I responded with a hasty and gruff "I'm fine. I'm fine" before making to move in the opposite direction she was going. "Well –if you're sure then" she called after me before trotting off with a puzzled expression.

I saw that some of her magenta magic was levitating some few hundred reading cards along with her and I guessed that she must be about to read a speech for the pony that was about to receive the reward. She looked confident as she strode towards the crowd but I didn't want all the attention to be focused on the stage right now so I looked around hastily to see what my distraction would be and found that the nearby PA system was all around the Town Hall and the streets of Ponyville.

This made me think for a few moments until a brilliant idea came to my mind. The system must be controlled and maintained in the town hall so it could be altered I was sure to perhaps put out a certain frequency which might be unpleasant to the ears of everypony.

With a plan in order I decided that it would be best that I made haste as it looked like Twilight was getting ready to ascend to the stage and made my way down the streets until I mixed with the crowd. The Town Hall was covered in the standard banners it flew from its roof everyday and also seemed to have a gigantic and quite elegantly designed picture of an apple on the centre of the front banner which made me wonder if it had something to do with the Apple Orchard I had seen on my way into town a day ago.

I entered the mass of ponies and began to mingle my way through the lot of them whilst all the time keeping up the pretentions of a tourist sightseeing by occasionally looking around at something not particularly interesting and pretending to look at it through the sights of my cheap antique camera.

Eventually I made my way to the side of the stage area and moved towards the large double doors of the Town Hall itself. Nopony paid much attention which was what I wanted and without any problems I entered the cute little Town Hall and looked around the large area which I supposed was used for addressing its citizens, parties and other recreational activities.

There was I side door with a badly painted sign above it saying "Offices" which I entered slowly. All the desks were empty which wasn't much, especially since there were only four desks filled with very small amounts of paperwork. There were three other doors there. One was the Mayor's office, the second was labelled Machine Room and finally a door with which was labelled Treasury.

Although the PA system controls would either be in the Machine room or the Mayor's Office I couldn't help but take a peek into the Treasury. There was nothing in the room except a medium sized safe and despite running on the clock it looked simple enough and so I took a little crack at the code.

Turning the dial until I heard four clicks I pulled the leaver by the side and with haste I turned it to see the town funds. To my surprise, after turning it I found to my surprise about five bits and a few notes which read "Funding Pending". Somehow this didn't surprise me and it was no wonder why Ponyville was so backwards in the way it was run.

Suddenly I heard Twilight's voice come over on the speakers and I decided it was time I hurried up and found the PA control booth or wherever it was kept. I rushed into the Mayor's office and found only a lavishly decorated interior with a large oak desk and rustic oak wooden library shelves as well a generally warm feel which the gigantic fireplace gave you just by looking at it.

"Well I see where funding's gone" I said to myself and deduced that they wouldn't put a messy control system in such a lavish office. So that left the Machine Room, which I hurried into whilst listening to the muffled sounds Twilight speaking outside.

The Machine Room was fairly basic with no decoration and was filled with filing cabinets a fuse box and an aging back-up generator. There was a rickety old table with a bunch of papers and assorted junk all over it.

I found the small controls on top of the table under a pile of letters from the pony who probably worked here although what anypony could do down here other than change the occasional fuse baffled me. I swept them off of the table and looked for the volume knob. I turned it right down and listened for the sound of Twilight's voice. It had disappeared so I then turned up the frequency to about 20 KHz and after ripping my terrible floral shirt and stuffing bits of the clothing in my ears I prepared for the overwhelming sound I was about to inflict upon the poor and unsuspecting citizens of Ponyville.

The noise was immediate and felt like a thousand screaming souls of the damned all screaming directly into my head. I imagined what it must be like for everypony outside but I myself was struggling to get my body into motion and resist the urge to cover my ears.

I heard the windows of the Town Hall shatter as I ran through the offices and back into the main hall. After finding the stairs I ascended them two at a time until I was overlooking the town from the roof.

The noise got better because of the differences in height but I still figured that I'd more ban likely get a headache from this along with everypony else in the square. I wasted no time in getting the rope I'd stolen from the side of the construction site and after hastily tying a lasso knot in the top I dangled it over the side.

Nopony was looking up as most had their hooves over their ears and their eyes scrunched up in pain. However some ponies were staggering their way towards the Town Hall and I knew that I didn't have long before my distraction would be uncovered.

I carefully hooked the lasso around the little figurine of a pony atop he trophy and slowly drew the rope back until it was taut against the side of the building and wrapped the rest around my fore-hooves before beacon myself against the roof's guard rail and using all my strength to pull.

It was so heavy and I could only get it about halfway before my muscles screamed for me to stop. I rested and took a second to appreciate Niles who had always done he heavy lifting.

I sucked it up and used all of my reserves to pulls the trophy up and over the roof of the town hall. Just as he last part of the trophy was pulled over the roof the screaming stopped. Well it didn't exactly stop as it seemed an echo of the sound was still traveling through my mind as probably with everypony else but it would seem that somepony had managed to find the volume switch.

Now I didn't know how smart they'd be. Would they recognise it as sabotage or believe it to be a mechanical failure? Would they search the building if they did suspect sabotage?

I wondered on this for a minute but then came he shocked gasps from down below and I couldn't help but give a very naughty peek over the side to see the faces of the citizens who I'd just zapped with the speakers from their own PA system.

They stumbled around dizzily with their eyes rolling around in their skulls and by the looks of it I could imagine that quite a few wouldn't be able to hear for a few days if not weeks.

Nopony launched into fits if gossip about the topic since most ponies were trying to hold their lunch in but they all noticed the trophy had been stolen and couldn't help hub give gasps.

Eventually the gasps and cries of shocks increased until everypony was staring at the stage which had once contained a very heavy trophy. As hearing began to return early for somepony's they began to ask questions amongst themselves but when the mayor came dizzily onto the stage with her mane all ruffled I began to see why Ponyville (and the budget) was completely empty.

She was quite an old mare with an expensive pair of spectacles and a certain air about her which smelled of money. Of course there was no money and now there was no statue which would be hard to explain.

I actually couldn't help but suppress a laugh at how hilariously devious the situation had been and how amazingly well I'd pulled it off. Maybe this vacation would be more fun than I thought.

The Mayor couldn't of course use the microphone which had been set up at the stand so she had to yell very loud "It's alright everypony, the problem was the faulty speaker system and technicians are on to it right now"! "What about the trophy" somepony shouted and the Mayor gave a look of puzzlement before she jumped back in realisation that the trophy (which now that I was examining it looked as if it was steel with a layer of gold paint) had disappeared right under the noses of everypony in Ponyville.

Everypony was not happy about the current events and what made it worse was the fact that the pony that was to receive the reward turned up with two barrels of apples and a look of exhaustion all over her body.

"She must work at the Apple Orchard" I told myself but after a careful look I saw that she was wearing a cowboy hat and remembered the blond pony who had diverted the stampede this morning.

"So this is a reward ceremony for her" I told myself and looked on as she tiredly stepped up to the podium to receive her reward whilst apologising "Sorry I'm late everypony" and looking like she was about to collapse on her hooves.

This was the awkward part where the Mayor gave a large smile and sheepishly began to think what she could do to get out of this situation. "Well... umm Applejack, I and everypony else have called you here to honour you for saving he town with giving this huge trophy to you for all he other hard work you do as you're friends have explained but-but unfortunately it seems that the trophy we had only minutes ago has... well it has kind of been misplaced" she gave up and asked aloud "Did anypony see anything"?

There was a chorus of heads shaking and I couldn't help but once again grin for the great success my excellent plan had been. That was of course before something typical went wrong.

"Everypony, I have just returned from the scene of the crime for you see this was obviously a from fillies and gentle opts" declared a very determined and slightly dishevelled looking Twilight Sparkle who had just rushed up onto the stage.

"Someone had turned the PA systems up to about 20 KHz which is why all the windows shattered and all our brains nearly burst out our ears and whilst distracted the villain then must have somehow taken the trophy." She explained to a shocked crowd.

I didn't like the way the conversation was going and although I wanted to back out with the trophy I couldn't help but see how far she'd get with this.

She began to pace the stage in a very detective kind of way as she looked at the floor of he stage where the trophy had been and hen at all the speakers surrounding the Town Hall.

She took a glance round and then announced "It is obvious that the pony couldn't gallop up and grab the trophy unless they had industrial ear buds or some form of magical spell which negates sound but I highly doubt that. However the pony must have been in the Town Hall originally and must have used the this this to their advantage, so after the sound is turned up freakishly loud they must have ascended the steps of the Town Hall to the roof and then used a rope or possibly magic to grab the trophy and pull it up although it is most likely to be a stallion as he amount of force both magically and physically would be a challenge for any mare.

The crowd stared at Twilight with their mouths hanging open but I beat them all as mine was practically gaping. "How could she possibly know?" I asked myself but then again I forgot that this mare was not just looks.

Wait, since when was I ever saying she was looks? However my bafflement and questions would have to wait later as suddenly everypony looked up and I had to quickly shoot my head away from the edge of the roof for fear of being spotted.

Of course it was too late as was signalled by a mare screaming "I saw him!" and followed by a choroid of yells from stallions and mare and a little dramatically screaming as well. Not the I could hear them that well with the ringing in my head but I had other problems to concern myself with.

These being the flood of Unicorn's and Earth Ponies all swarming into the Town Hall and the sudden sound of wings flapping as Pegasi took to the air. I acted on instinct and saying a tearfully goodbye to my lovely, stolen trophy I grabbed the rope from round it and before a Pegasus could fly up to my level I leapt from the Town Hall.

Generally this would be viewed as a stupid plan as I had no wings or magic which could potentially save me so most ponies probably could see my destiny as a lovely Dawn pancake on the street floor below, however I flicked my hoof and the rope I'd taken unfurled itself and fastened around a nearby house's chimney.

I clenched the rope tightly with my teeth and using the momentum which I'd gained from the fall I swung myself through the air until I was on the same level as the house and then let go, landing on top of a thatched roof and proffering to apron along it.

When I reached the edge of the roof I leapt across to a colourful yellow roof which made me think of sunshine and daffodils and general happiness. "Smart idea using the colour scheme of the roofs to keep ponies happy" I thought to myself and briefly wondered if the paint had some kind of drug in it or I was just feeling particularly happy as I made my daring and if I may say so "dashing" escape.

However my escape was impeded when suddenly a rainbow maned cyan mare that I'd seen this morning, flew at lightning speed just above me. "You're not escaping from the best flyer in Equestria punk!" She announced with a dive in an attempt to grab me. However I was too quick and easily dodged to the side before she could make contact.

She almost crashed into the roof and with a frustrated grunt of anger she once more took to the sky, flying extremely close to the roofs and gaining definite speed on me. I realised that I was going to run out of roofs if I didn't shake he and before that would happen I made a move to dive left when I came to a roof which was larger than the others and would require me to leap over it but instead dived right, falling off of the roof I was on and down into the alleyway below.

I heard the crashing and the splintering of the house's roof which she had crashed through when she had attempted to turn from left to right and not realised a larger roof was right in front of her. I grinned to myself as I landed in a large bin which stank of rotten fruit and other bad smells but I didn't care I felt alive and happy, which were two things I really-really loved were and the loss of the trophy although a great shame wasn't all that bad since I did technically steal it without anypony noticing.

"And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for that meddling Sparkle" I chuckled to myself, actually quite pleased for some reason that Twilight had been able to piece together my little robbery. If she ever wanted to become a criminal then I was positive she'd make a promising student.

I pulled myself out of the bins and tore the floral shirt from my front, I also took the rolled up pieces of the shirt from my ears and realised they probably looked a little stupid whilst running. Next the cap went in the trash and I brushed a banana peel out of my mane before I stepped out into the street with my camera still around my neck.

I acted casual as a walked back to Bon Bon's and Lyra's house and it seemed to have payed off as once more parties of ponies passed me with hunting looks on their faces when they should have been looking for me.

I supposed I was a difficult pony to remember and the cap and terrible shirt probably didn't help but the real give away was the cutie mark. I couldn't count the amount of times I'd been caught out because of my cutie mark which Niles had never had to bother with but then he was a griffon and although Griffons were a major player in the different races there were very few that wondered outside their Kingdoms and those that did usually for reasons personal or to make a name for themselves without the restrictive government of the Griffons which Niles had told me about.

I wasn't too worried however since remembering a pony's cutie mark was very difficult and especially so when there were so many ponies that everypony met each day and nopony usually stared at another's flank intentionally.

I decided that I was still a little hungry so I stopped off at a café nearby and decided to order a sandwich. The café was fairly nice and the waiter had a typical waiter moustache and the menu was a typical fancy design.

Nothing particularly interesting seemed to happen which was kind of interesting since only ten minutes ago I'd been running across a roof-top after stealing a trophy of considerable size. I was conscious of the fact that I stank slightly which a few other ponies seemed to notice but they did the polite thing of walking by and not paying attention as they tried to get the constant ringing out of their ears. My ears were better but I could see that somepony's were still having to shout or put their ears close to others mouths so as to be able to hear each other.

The windows of the houses and stores around the town hall seemed to have been completely shattered as I picked up on from casual conversation from around the tables and from ponies passing by my table.

It was nice to just sit out in the afternoon sun and enjoy my vacation. The sandwich I had ordered seemed to take an hour to make which made me question the priority of my order but I enjoyed the sandwich none the less and after a further half-an-hour decided I should really head on home and left the table without paying.

Other than messing around all day I had done nothing and had even lost the bag of stolen clothes so I was feeling real good but I told myself "Tomorrow you really have to go to work" although somehow I suspected that my work had come to me when I looked at Bon Bon's place as I came round the corner.

The curtains were drawn and I thought I saw one move and it was strange for both the curtains to be drawn when the sun still had an hour to go down and the curtain to move on its own and there was no breeze about today and I could remember no fan or ventilation system in the building.

Then again it was possible that Bon Bon or the other pony who I hadn't met yet was in although it wasn't a weekday and I was sure they both had jobs. "It could have been one of those things" one side of me told myself but the other side of me screamed "They're waiting for you to come in so they can arrest you"!

So in light of the circumstances I decided it best I took a detour and so I stepped back and circled round the street until I was at the back of the building. A fence separated a nice little garden and with a quick hop over the fence I was in the garden and staying low. I saw that the windows on this side of the house were also closed which made me definitely suspicious so I decided to once more use the great skills of Equestria's best thief to break into the house was supposed to be paying rent for.

I climbed up the house using the windows as fast as I could so to eliminate the chance of ponies seeing me until I reached the side window of my room. After looking at the window I saw the hinges were old and with a large push I was able to pry it open. I entered my room quietly and looked around to see if my room had been searched.

I saw Nile's rifle was still above the wardrobe and after feeling around I found my amulet and stuff all wrapped neatly and untouched in my cloak. I left the cloak and put the amulet on and already felt ten times more confident when I felt the very subtle magic work over me and turn me invisible. I also put a saddlebag on my back with my most valuable items in case I had to get out in a hurry.

I would have grinned but I wasn't invisible to other pony's ears and was holding my breath. I wasn't usually this serious but I wasn't sure if Twilight Sparkle had pieced together her seeing me this morning in that terrible floral shirt and somehow through asking around maybe she could have traced me back here.

I was quiet as I walked through the hallway and looked down the darkened stairs. There was nopony in by the sounds of it but that theory was dashed to pieces when I heard somepony whisper "Pinkie I thought you told us he'd probably be back in half-an-hour but he hasn't showed up for almost an hour now"!

There was some shuffling and I heard the voice of the annoying and fast paced pink pony reply "I don't get t he was walking down the street a second ago". Everypony seemed anxious to meet me so I descended the stairs silently and saw in the gloom about twenty pony's all hiding behind the couch, decoration and a table of treats and cakes were all set up along with a banner which I could just make out reading "Welcome to Ponyville please Stay".

I was touched by the fact that everypony wanted to throw me a party and I believed I could make out Bon Bon next to the crazy pink party pony. So she was in on it too then. I was really glad I hadn't walked in on this as the initial surprise would probably have made me jump out the window and once more run for fear of being discovered.

However I could see no ill will intended here and decided that I would have a little fun before I revealed myself. I moved silently over to a white pony with purple hair and a strange pony with what looked like an hourglass for a cutie mark.

I took off my amulet and pressed its centre before placing it in my saddlebag and pretending to be one of the ponies waiting for my own party. Five minutes passed and nothing happened and I decided to ask "Whose party is this for anyway?" I asked sounding confused.

The white mare next to me smiled and replied "Oh for some new pony in town that Pinkie Pie met earlier called Dawn". I couldn't help but give a small snigger before I replied in a surprised tone "My name is Dawn"! It was loud enough that everypony in the room instantly wheeled round to where my voice had come from and suddenly the light flickered on.

Everypony stared at me and Bon Bon stood up in shock along with the white pony that had answered me and looked to be the most gorgeous pony I'd ever met. Her hair was a deep purple and her coat shined and her eyes were all bright and sparkly. She was one of the most stunning ponies ever and I think I might have been staring for a little too long as everypony was now looking at me funnily.

"Oh… umm yes I'm new Dawn pleased to meet everypony" I said with a very cheerful grin in the direction of the pretty mare. Pinkie Pie looked shocked that I had somehow showed up in the middle of the party and asked "How long were you hiding there"?

I kept the grin plastered on my face and answered "Oh you know just since we started preparing for the party. Did nopony see me"? There were shakings of heads but I planted the seed of doubt when I explained "You know I was the one that carried that stuff" before I made a small gesture with my hoof.

Everypony instantly began to nod their heads and one stallion even said "Oh yeah now you mention It I do remember you helping set up". The pink pony still couldn't believe it but none the less she shrugged off the failed surprise with a laugh and yelled "Well Surprise!" along with everypony else and then the party started. Little did I know of the hard time I would have explaining things as the night would go on.

**Ok so just a thanks to everyone that's reviewed, really kept me inspired to write and if there are any suggestions then please PM me or leave a review. J **


	4. It Gets Complicated

**It Gets Complicated**

The party was really amazing and he minute that everypony got over the amazement that I'd somehow been here all the time and preparing to surprise myself they instantly all crowded round me and began to shake my hoof.

I just couldn't help but grin that the ponies whose eardrums I'd almost shattered were throwing me a party in honour of me just coming to town.

To say I felt no guilt would be a lie but then again I never felt that bad about the things I did, only if I unintentionally did something cruel lie the one time I stole candy from a foal (that got me a week in the local jail) however the point still stood that I was generally a good guy... at least that's what I thought.

Bon Bon came over to see me and I was surprised when she have me a small big and asked "Were you really here this entire time Dawn"? I smiled and pretended to act as surprised as she was and responded "Yeah I had absolutely no idea who the party was for, I just arrived and you were setting up so I decided to help since this is your house".

Bon Bon smiled and said "Don't think of it as my house Dawn, it's your house too now and you can do whatever you want with it". Bon Bon was just too kind and I could help but give her a big thank you before I was once more introduced by Pinkie to somepony else by the name of Rainbow Dash.

I should have been paying more attention as I realised I was the same rainbow Pegasus who'd been chasing me a few hours ago but with a bandage over her left wing and a little sour expression on her face.

I covered up my initial shock and gave an easy going and overall friendly smile and bid her "Hello Rainbow Dash it's nice to meet you.

"Are you ok that looks painful"? She tried to perk up a little but she didn't actually smile but instead gave a look of annoyance as she explained "Yeah well today there was a robber or something and he... he outran me when I was chasing him and I crashed into this house and I bruised my left wing but don't worry I'm alright it's just my pride" she perked up shaking my hoof and smiling.

"Hah you could always change your name to Rainbow Crash" I suggested comically. She didn't seem to get the joke and instead actually got real mad and stormed off over to the punch bowl. "Mares" I thought and then remembered something about her.

This mare matched the name Pinkie Pie had told me this morning and I made a mental note to snap her picture later on as well as Pinkie's and that Apple pony who'd looked dead on her feet the last time I'd seen her when I'd been stealing her trophy.

Finished with the introduction for now I went over to the food table and looked at all the scrumptious things although I wasn't really hungry for any of them. However I met the white Unicorn with the lovely purple mane over there and instantly any thought of anything went off my mind.

"Well hello there darling" she said in a posh accent which instantly made me shiver and recall the ponies of Canterlot. However I didn't want to appear rude so I responded "Hello there Miss..."? "Oh Rarity is the name darling and fashion is my trade" she finished my sentence with a flick of her mane and a flash of her eyelashes.

She was certainly gorgeous but then again I supposed these fashion ponies really prided themselves on their looks. "W-well it is amazing to meet you Miss Rarity" I said again with a shake of her hoof whilst realising she was another element bearer and making a mental note to get her picture later as well.

"So I hear that you are thinking of moving to Ponyville, so where do you come from then Mr Dawn"? I panicked, I hadn't exactly made much of a back story yet and if anypony could remember the papers ten years ago the name Dawn, Canterlot and my cutie mark would be easy to piece together to associate me with what I once was.

"I-I" I stammered whilst internally thinking "Play it cool Dawn, play it cool" and beginning to sweat. "I come from The Kingdom of the Griffons" I said and made a mental note to smack myself later on tonight.

Everypony just looked at me in confusion and Rarity pointed out "Forgive me for saying this but you don't look like you're from there I mean you aren't actually a Griffon".

Everypony nodded their heads and looked at me for an answer so I provided by responding "Well it's actually an interesting story see my parents were quill makers and moved to the Griffon Kingdom for cheap and strong feathers since they're all birds and shed more than any other creature in Equestria so then they transported them back to Equestria and made a small fortune" I said and everypony instantly ate up my lie and began murmuring and discussing my lie.

"So why did you desire to move back Mr" asked a mare I think wen by the name of Dune Bug and I easily lied "Well I felt that it was time for me to leave and get back and explore the Equestria I never saw so you see that's why I want to buy a house yet also explore whilst I'm at it and may I just say that the day that I arrived in Ponyville I was instantly captured by its looks and more importantly he hearts of its wonderful citizens".

Everypony awed and instantly began to clap and I couldn't help but show off my charming smile as the occasion called for it. However I was in a dangerous position now as everypony was crowding behind me and now it seemed more like an interrogation than a party.

"Forgive me for asking but what's your cutie mark for Mr?" asked a pony with an arcade game for a cutie mark and a bright green coat. I laughed and instantly blurted out "I'm an undertaker" before once more internal face-hoofing, I could lie better than this so what was wrong with me.

Everypony was quite surprised and a Pinkie asked "How in the name of cupcakes did you discover that for your special talent"? I once more sweated as I replied "Oh well I buried a dead squirrel when I was young and then, poof I had a cutie mark of a skull on fire".

Everypony seemed to nod in agreement and I instantly tried to change the subject before anypony asked me a question and pointed the conversation to the biggest talker in the room. "Pinkie I see you're a savvy baker so tell me how did you learn to bake so good"?

The instant the question left my lips the mare seemed to explode into a verbal flood which pained everypony and happily for me broke up the circle and allowed me to go over to the punch bowl where I instantly took a glass and drank it all in one to.

There was hardly any alcohol in it and I really needed some right now so I quickly had another four glasses before I came away from the table to see that Pinkie was still going.

However I was lucky when Bon Bon put on some music and Pinkie got distracted and went over to dance and generally hop around. I Sat down at a nearby table with some punch and tried to remember everypony's names.

"A little overwhelming isn't it?" asked Rarity who surprised me from across the table where she had taken a seat. She was a truly beautiful mare but that can make mares dangerous as I had learned In the past and had still to learn now as I replied dreamily "Yeah".

"You seem like a really nice guy for an undertaker" she inquired and I nodded staring at her before snapping out of my haze and answering "Erm, er yeah well I guess my personality overrides the morbid streak in me".

She nodded and sat back with a contented sigh whilst looking across the room. Despite the fact she was distracting I thought it a good time to grill her for information about Twilight and her friends and asked "So a little birdie told me that you are a bearer of an Element of Harmony and a friend of a certain librarian in town".

Rarity brightened up and replied "You mean Twilight, why yes she is a dear and represents the magic of the six elements".

I mentally filed this and made a mental not to pat myself on the back and asked "Surely you are the magical element of the group"? Rarity blushed and with a small giggle answered "Oh no I'm nowhere near as talented as she is, but I do represent the element of generosity which I suppose is an important part of the friendship of magic".

"What in Equestria is she on about" I asked myself and pushed forwards, asking her "Friendship is Magic?" with a genuinely puzzled expression. She nodded and explained "Yes you see the Elements of Harmony are represented by the mane six and run on the Magic of Friendship which each one of us represents.

Pinkie represents laughter, I represent generosity, Rainbow represents loyalty, Applejack honesty, Fluttershy which is one of the mares you haven't met represents kindness and Twilight is the magic which holds us all together".

"Did I hear my name?" asked a voice from above us and I looked up to see the face of none other than Twilight Sparkle. "Why hello Miss Sparkle, I didn't expect you just now" I apologised and Twilight looked at me with a strange look and asked "Have we met before"?

I went to my brain for answers but all it gave me was that she smelled of paper so I responded "You smell like books". Rarity looked from me to Twilight and Twilight just chuckled and replied "Ah yes well that's what you get for living in a library I suppose".

I laughed awkwardly as well and said "We'll excuse me I'll leave you ladies to talk" before I got up to go to someplace which wasn't anywhere near her but then I heard her voice again reply "Your that tourist from this morning, you know the one in the red cap and the terrible green floral shirt with the camera round his neck".

I sighed and turned round to respond cheerfully but then a shout from across the room which came from the tomboy Rainbow Dash made me freeze and then made me shiver when she yelled "That's what the thief was wearing this morning when I was chasing him"!

Everypony instantly looked towards me and Twilight seemed to be processing these thoughts and began to think aloud "You match the description of the pony Rainbow chased and I saw you near the Town Hall, you're new to town and you look quite fit as well and seem to be quite charming, you are the perfect criminal to perform this and you could easily be Lyon about you're cutie mark.

I was speechless once more and cursed that shirt and stupid red hat as I tried to come up with an explanation. "I can explain" I said weakly but suddenly two stallions came out of nowhere and held me by my fore-hooves. I tried to shake them off but they tightened their grip and I pleaded "I didn't do it".

Twilight continued and began to piece everything together and pointed out "You could have easily slipped through the crowd and accessed the controls in the Machine Room and then after climbing the stairs to the roof pulled the trophy up with a rope which I noticed had been taken from a nearby vendors stall right by the clothes store where a pony reports having clothing items disappear and then when I discovered your plans after you ran and crashed into the alleyway trashcans when giving Rainbow the slip which is why you smell of mouldy courgette"!

"Do I really smell the bad?" I asked comically but nopony was laughing and simply looking at me with shocked realization and slight disgust as the two stallions holding me began to drag me away. "Look you have to believe me I know the facts seem really, really accurately true but I swear that I'm innocent"!

Everypony simply turned away and Bon Bon even started to cry a little. Suddenly however the door in front of me opened and in stepped a pony with a yellow coat and a red mane who was wearing a red cap, horrible floral shirt and a camera from the same vendor and he asked "I'm sorry but I just fell into a nearby dump after tearing my shirt whilst practicing my acrobatics skills can I borrow a phone cause I need to get of Ponyville quickly".

Everypony stared and looked from me to the tourist which the Spirits of luck had gifted me with and then to Twilight who sheepishly lowered her head and responded with a slight "Oops".

The stallions immediately let me go and made a move for the acrobatic tourist who was about to receive the surprise of his life however before they could grab him he dodged and yelled "Fine I'll use another phone" before he took off down the street followed by the other two.

I got up and brushed myself down whilst Everypony looked at me with apologetic looks and especially Twilight. "Dawn we're, we're so sorry" Twilight apologised but I took it as an excellent time to use my acting skills and spat back "No, I don't want to hear any apologies I'm frankly disgusted with what has just occurred, I am nothing if not law abiding and respected Undertaker and you have all just blatantly insulted those two things which make me who I am.

I think maybe Ponyville is overrated, maybe Manehatten would be better I yelled as I made my dramatic escape up the stairs whilst everypony poured their apologies out at me from the pits of their hearts.

"I'm sorry everypony but… I think you should leave" I said with a look of both sadness and anger whilst inside I felt feelings of relief only. "Please we're sorry" everypony began to say but I didn't listen.

I pretended to ignore them all and went straight to my room and slammed the door. I held the frown I had adopted for a few more seconds before I relaxed my face muscles and burst into tiny fits of laughter. I had actually just got away with that and all because of some gymnast who was on holiday and wanted to use the phone and happened to have bad taste in fashion.

"When I write my auto-biography this gets an entire chapter" I told myself with a contented sigh. It was pretty late and I guessed I had successfully disbanded the party and probably caused all the guests to feel shame and sorrow for their accusations and why they'd not believed me.

I decide it might be a good time to write up a little bit of the reports of information I was going to gather so I could work out how to make Twilight open the vault.

Twilight Sparkle, she was certainly a savvy investigator and certainly no pushover in the brain department. In future if I wanted to perform such acts of villainous stupidity I might want to be a tad more careful and make sure Twilight wasn't in a five mile radius of the crime.

I remembered that smell on her if books and didn't know what to think. Everypony probably thought I was just generally stinky but the smell on her was just mind of... Interesting. It would be easy now that everypony wanted to apologise to me to get juicy information from them and other favours so in a way this little show was quite fruitful.

However I couldn't help but feel guilty. Well not exactly guilty but more guilty than usual and I didn't understand why since I'd once tricked a mare who had a kitten orphanage to give me all her money with the excuse of taxes and I hadn't felt bad so it was obviously not the part guests kindness which was affecting my conscious.

Frowning I retrieve my fancy quill and ink and began to write on a piece of parchment. I knew how to write reports since sometimes me and Niles had taken investigation cases for rulers or merchants or local guards and police forces and of course the red tape ponies couldn't understand a spoken explanation so needed a written one from me instead and that needed three weeks of circling desks between multiple offices before it got delivered to the right pony.

This meant I had practice and was quickly into my third page when there was a sudden knock at the door. I covered up the papers and threw myself onto my bed before saying "Come in". The door slowly opened and as I expected Bon Bon walked in with a tray of cupcakes and a look of great guilt on her face.

"I just wanted to know if you were hungry or not cause Pinkie left these cupcakes and insisted that you receive some" she said sweetly but with guilt edged deep into her face. I decided that maybe I'd let her feel this way long enough and decided to ease her mind.

"It's ok Bon Bon" I said denying both the cupcakes and continuing my sentence I told her "You don't need to look like that, I forgive you I mean I might have overreacted a bit as well but then again I think we all did in a way".

She blinked and pushed the idea that she was guilty away with a sharp intake of breath and a wave of her hoof.

"I'm not feeling guilty... well ok I really am" she said tearing up a bit and looking a little dizzy. I let her in my room and she took a seat on my bed and explained "It's just when you were accused I was feeling ashamed and believed the allegations against you to be true and the thoughts of me harbouring a criminal in this house were just... dreadful" she stammered I nodded my head and pretended to look really understanding when I was actually beginning to feel a little bored from her constant yammer.

"Yes well it was nice of you to offer me the cupcakes and I know that next time everypony won't be so quick to judge the new guy" I said as I opened the door to my room and ushered her over to it.

She totally agreed and nodded "Believe me I will never ever do that oh and that reminds me about Twilight" she said and my ears instantly shot to attention and I eagerly asked "Why, what, when"?

My eagerness seemed to startle her slightly but she carried on and explained "Well when the party broke up she asked if I could tell you to meet her later tonight for some reason and I told her I'd tell you in an hour and well here I am".

I nodded my head and began to think of all the possible explanations. "Ok well thank you Bon Bon I think I will go and see her and make sure we're square" I told her with a smile whilst on the inside I felt the little dastardly voice do a somersault. Bon Bon smiled and replied "Glad to be the messenger and Dawn... once more I and everypony else is really sorry for what happened tonight at the party but believe me when I say that Ponyville isn't usually like this".

I nodded in understanding and told her "I'll head out in ten minutes I just have to finish some things first". She nodded once more and closer the door and I did a little immature punch of the air before calming down and going back over to all the written information on Twilight and her friends I had.

I finished the third page and looked at all the information I'd gathered so far. Besides from accurate and detailed descriptions and the initial personalities they portrayed, elements they represented and other general like their jobs I knew nothing about their backgrounds, their favourite music, foods (although I guessed what Pinkie's was), what they feared, what they liked and disliked and what family they had.

I wanted as much information I could get before I even attempted to blackmail or force anypony to do anything but I didn't rule out seduction or trickery as I thought I'd gotten on very well with the other ponies and especially Rarity who I was positive with a week I could have doing backflips and with her generous nature which she'd mentioned she'd be more ban willing to help me.

Now that the other ponies had falsely accused me of the attempted robbery it would make my life so much easy and hopefully enable me to get closer to the mane six.

I'd been in proximity or met all of them except the sleepy orchard worker Applejack who'd looked dead on her feet last I'd seen her. Perhaps I could use that sleepiness to my advantage.

I decided to stop thinking and his he note before making my way down the stairs and to the front door. Lyra was sitting on the sofa and smiled to me and gave a little wave. I gave a small wave as well as I shut the door and headed down the huge streets of Ponyville in the direction of the library.

Very soon I was at Twilight's door as the street lamps flickered on and the Twilight which had lit the way ended and ark was cell. The lamps did a good job of chasing it all away though and before I could even knock on the door I was supposed when it opened up right in front of me and a rather skittish looking Twilight Sparkle pulled me inside.

I was surprised by how afraid she seemed to look and asked her in as kind a tone of voice I could muster "What's the matter Miss Sparkle"? She seemed to focus on my voice and her bright purple eyes focused on me and she told me "Don't call me Miss Sparkle just Twilight please" and so I nodded with a smile and replied "Ok Twilight, is there something you need as I realise it's not usual to call just anypony down at this time of night".

Her eyes seemed to look everywhere but mine as she explained in a surprisingly shaky tone for such a commanding mare "Well you see that's really the thing it's not what I need it's what you need, I made some tea let me to get it" she said as she Dashed from one side if he library to the other and retrieved a pot of tea with her magic which she levitated shakily through the air.

"Twilight...?" I asked but there was no calming her as she frantically explained "We'll you see I kind of wanted to have a little chat with you as I might have been wrong about a certain crime you didn't commit and you see it wasn't good when you left in such a hurry after we almost arrested you and that was mainly my fault and by the way I'm really sorry for that" she said taking a breath and I once more flatly asked "Twilight...?" But there was just no stopping her as she spilt the tea which she shakily tried to pour into the cup whilst shakily continuing her explanation of why I was here at this hour.

"Now err... Mr D-D-Dawn I am usually not one to jump to conclusions but instead research them and the make judgement as you see I'm here to study friendship and by alienating you I just had one of the biggest failures yet since I've arrived here and to write back to my mentor the Princess tonight without the matter being resolved wouldn't exactly be ok with me and I'm sure neither her and you see I really like my friends and my mentor and I don't want to let them down so I'm kind of found to ask you a question and if you want you can answer yes and if not then you can answer no it is entirely up to you and you alone" she stammered.

I nodded calmly and let her clam down before she took another sharp intake of breath and quickly asked "Do you wish to go out for tea with me and my friends' tomorrow afternoon"?

Well of course the chance of getting to meet all the elements together and question them meant I had to say yes however I had to look like I was still a little hurt from the mishap today and so I adopted a slight frown and answered "Well I... I don't really know" but Twilight instantly leapt up and sugar coated it by desperately adding "I'll also give you a personal tour of Ponyville and library card which lets you check out as many books as you want"!

I sighed and pretended to look like this was a really big thing I was excepting before responding "Ok I accept" much to Twilight's happiness and she whooped and for a second I thought she'd do a somersault before she calmed down and regains she'd compare before politely asking "Now that that's out of the way did you want tea" she gestured to the pot which was mainly empty as the majority of the contents was all across the floor.

"I'll pass" I said and with a look out the window told her "I should probably get going its really dark" before I began moving closer and closer to the door. Twilight hovered around and it and opened it with a kind look of great fullness.

I stood on the outside of the door and she on the inside and we both looked at each other for a few moments at a complete loss of what to say.

Generally I could easily turn on the charm with the ladies and especially in a situation where he made is all flustered and apologetic but right now I was finding It hard to come up with a dashing goodbye so I stammered out a simple "Goodbye" but Twilight had me beaten and stammered out "See ya" at the same time. We blinked and I sheepishly began stepping back as she slowly closed the door.

Not the greatest goodbyes as goodbyes went but then it had been a really strange and really brief encounter. Although being able to take tea with all the Elements meant lots of great info I was worried about how Twilight had just acted.

She was really faithful to the Princess and I couldn't see her willingly opening the vault unless the occasion really arises and the elements had to be used but somehow I believed the elements wouldn't be called out much except for battling the forces of chaos and darkness which I didn't have locked away in my backpack and couldn't exactly just organise.

I walked back to my house and opened the front door quietly. I'd need to ask for keys at one point but it didn't seem like a problem since nopony in Ponyville seemed to lock their doors. There was nopony on the bottom floor and everything was dark so I quietly headed for the stairs when suddenly I received the surprise of a lifetime.

A nasty crack echoed around the room and I felt what I thought was a baseball bat hit the back of my head. I went down immediately but surprised myself when I didn't black out however my ears instantly went ringing and my vision became a blurry mix I colours.

My limbs were paralysed but I could still faintly feel as a hoof grabbed me around the chest and began to drag me away from the stairs and over to the basement which Bon Bon said was Lyra's space and where I shouldn't poke around.

My vision focused slightly and I began to see the fuzzy image of a pony clad in black but then suddenly It felt like we were going down and I realised the pony was carrying me down the stairs.

I didn't have my voice or my hearing but part of me worried about the pony dropping me and I was confirmed right for my worries when at the final two steps I felt my back spam painfully into the cold concrete floor as she dropped me.

I groaned faintly and tried to death myself from the pain I was feeling right now but was unsuccessful and kept feeling the bruise on my head through the possible concussion and now I had to deal with maybe a cracked rib which was wonderful.

However although my brain speed had been reduced by about eighty-percent I was using I all to my fullest as I wondered "Who this pony was? "Was it an assassin or just some random crazy pony? Is she going to kill me or torture and then kill me? Thousands of questions all spinning around in my head all of which I couldn't begin to try and formulate an answer for.

I moaned in pain some more but got no response from my attacker. It could have been that she was talking to me but I was still dead and couldn't hear or it could have been that I had been left alone on the cold floor of the basement in the darkness. Or maybe this was death and if so it was fairly painful and very boring.

However I heard hoof steps and realised it was just that my attacker had left for a moment. I attempted to stand but my attacker pressed their weight on me and put my fore hooves behind my back before tying them with some rope. She the once more dragged me a little of a way to what looked like a chair which the apes would use. It was so weird seeing one of these here since usually the only chairs in Equestria were Sofa's, Armchairs and plush cushion which ponies would lie down on to rest and the rest of the time either stand or sit down on their haunches but the chair was never used at least not to my knowledge.

The pony yanked me up into the chair and with a very feminine grub and a tug she tied my fetlocks to the chair and propped my poor and very sore back against the chair.

I hissed in pain as she did this and she seemed to jump back as If I was a snake but then proceeded to tie my fore hooves to the back of the chair before stepping back to admire her work.

She nodded to herself then went to close the top of the basement door. I struggled weakly against the bonds which held me fast but my brain wasn't in gear and my ribs really hurt

"I can't believe that I've escaped hi-tech prisons and assassins only to be captured by some amateur" I thought. A little angry but also fearful since this was my first time which I was tied up in a basement and in this much pain.

I'd been in pain before and the worst ever was when I broke my back legs after leaping off a cliff which caused Niles two months of boredom and playing doctor. It wasn't a pleasant experience and neither was the feeling if being utterly powerless in front of a mare in black.

"Oh Celestia forgive me for all the wrongs I've inflicted upon mares" I silently gave a prayer in my mind although with the list of things I'd done for mare and to mares there would be hours' worth of reading material before any kind of consensus was reached.

The mare seemed stern although the faint light coming from a lamp on the ceiling couldn't give me any help in finding out more about my captor. However when she came over withe rifle levitating next to her cast in a minty magical flow I would be lying if I didn't say I was now worried.

A Unicorn could easily use that thing on me and unless I got one between the eyes or in the chest any other area that I was shot in could bring hours of pain and possible long term damage if I survived that long.

For one of few times in my life all the cockiness, bravado, charm and confidence was gone and all that remained was the fear in the pit of my stomach and it wasn't a food feeling. I tried to focus on using the techniques I'd learned over the years to she'd my bonds but I couldn't concentrate for the pain and fear in my head.

The mare approached me with a black mask over her face and showed the rifle really close to my face before asking slowly "Do you know why you are here"? I was shaking but I sure as hell wasn't going to go out screaming like a little girl and so I just shook my head.

He pony pressed the trigger system right up against my eye until my eyeball was nearly touching it and I feared I'd lose my eye. "Do you know what this thing of yours is?" She asked in a demanding tone and I shook my her and she quietly answered "I don't believe you, this is some kind of leaved by it cannot be easily accessed by pony-kind without difficulty which means by its size and shape it was built for...?" She prompted showing it to me and I quietly answered "Umm talons..." While trying hard to get free of my bonds.

"No I think you know the answer and you're going to tell me" she whispered dangerously into my ear and getting very up close in an almost sexy if not absolutely terrifying and scared out of my mind way.

"Erm... I" I began to say but she put her hoof to my muzzle and stopped further speech whilst whispering "Shhhhh" and explaining "I think I'll show you what it means" before she strolled away from me and went over to the wall by the stairs.

Up until now the room had been pretty dank and dark and the only part illuminated was me and that left the walls pretty dark. However the minute my captor flipped the switch I couldn't help but gasp and stare at shock as the room lit up as extra lights flared up on the wall.

Everywhere the wall was covered in drawings, illustrations, schematics and text about generally one word. "HANDS" was scrawled across one part followed by a lot of dark marking and star with lots of candles and red paint... At least it looked like paint.

There were models of what looked like the apes hands but not like the ones drawn and designed in the various models around the room. The hands of the apes were black and leathery and covered in fur at the top but these were curlews and looked smooth and pale.

There were books about anatomy everywhere and across the wall I saw various words which also sprang up like "feet" and "humans" which I'd never heard of before and all scared me slightly.

" I can see that you like it well I spent years putting all the dreams up here together" she said pointing to her head "It took years to find references and draw these but now your here you're going to tell me about the humans" she said coming over to me and pulling up a chair.

I blinked when I connected the dots and realised that his was no other than Lyra, the second owner of the house and the pony who spent so much time in the basement working on the project.

I couldn't help but feel a different feeling to fear and this feeling was enough for me to break my bonds and yell in a rage "Why the hell did you club me over the head and tie me up"!

She was taken aback by my rage and worried when I stood up but she calmly explained "You just show up and steel our extra room and leave clues to your knowledge about humans lying around and you don't think I wouldn't beat you over the head and drag you down to the basement and then tie you up, you must come from some really deranged place now tell me about the hands!" She demanded but she seemed surprised when instead of yelling or saying anything for that matter I simply started laughing.

It was rolling laughter and it was slightly mad but I wasn't just mad I was furious and shouted "You dumb Unicorn, I live here now I signed the lodger form I thought Bon Bon told you, I even had a welcome party today which ended terribly and that isn't mine just a thing I'm holding for a friend which he was given by apes and I don't know anything about your stupid obsession with hands"!

I reared and she backed away as I almost lost my cool and hit her before I realised the despite the fact she'd almost knocked me out and thrown me slightly down the stairs and then tied me up and questioned me.

Giving the impression of being a lunatic I was still a gentlecolt and it was bad to hit a mare so I told her sternly "I understand you made a mistake just now but I think it would be best you don't mention anything about the object you have to anypony and I won't confess to everypony about you're freakish obsession with furless hands".

She perked up and asked "So you know something about humans after all"? But I shook my head and replied "These images look like hands of apes but without fur, if you want to know anything about the apes I can tell you some other time but right now I need first aid and a serious good night's rest and I really would like to just forget about this whole thing".

She seemed to slump her shoulder and magically pulled her mask to reveal a pretty face and a white and mint mane which matched her mint green coat.

She sighed with her head in her hooves as she sat down in the staircase in the awkward way I'd been tied to the chair by her a second ago and began to cry.

I couldn't believe that after all she'd just done she'd start to cry and I almost gave up on life there but unfortunately now that the fear I having my organs slowly removed and my secrets exposed was over I was back to the cocky, charming and awesome pony I usually was and asked "Why are you crying?

I mean if anything I should be crying with the amount of pain I'm in and the fact is I'm giving you a really good deal here so for you to go and cry makes no sense" I said but she continued to cry and it began to get awkward after five minutes of standing in the cold basement but luckily help from a guiding light came as Bon Bon descended the stares probably wondering what all the noise was and exclaimed "What In the name of sugar lumps is going on down here"?

She descended the stairs and saw Lyra crying and then I standing there with a large and probably purple bruise on my head and rope burns on my hooves for where I'd tried to escape whilst in fear for my life.

I expected Lyra to blame me but she simply went over and in consoling yet harsh words scolded "Lyra, what did I say about hitting ponies over the head and taking hen down here for interrogation. I mean this is the sixth time and we know now that the Princess will confiscate your stuff if you did this again and you've just done it"!

She kept sobbing but now Bon Bon sat next to her and Lyra buried her head in her shoulder. Bon Bon rubbed her friends back and looked over at me which I thought was my cue to speak so I just told her "It's ok, I would prefer not to let anypony know about this for my reputation and for Lyra's sake I mean it didn't hurt that much and it would look bad around town if everypony knew a mare kicked my ass down he stares" wincing as I finished that last part with the pain in my chest flaring up.

Lyra looked up from her friends shoulder and murmured something before burying her head back into the safety of her friends shoulder. "What she say?" I asked actually beginning to feel sorry for the mare that'd almost killed me. Bon Bon sighed and kindly replied "She said she sorry and that's a lot coming for her I mean I barely ever see her cry so congratulations she must have really hit you hard". I would have smiled but it came out as a scowl so to hide I asked "Where is the First Aid Kit"? Bon Bon nodded and pointed upstairs saying "It's in the kitchen and it's in the draw nearest. Do you need help"?

I shook my head and told her "That's fine Bon Bon, I'd really like to just bandage my head and go to bed but I think maybe you should take care of Lyra". She nodded in appreciation and just held Lyra softly stroking her mane and whispering things like "It's not your fault" and "It's going to be ok" to her in a sweet and caring tone.

Although mares were generally kind the way I'd seen how those two acted I wondered if they were just friends or something more. However this didn't take up my total processing power and I went back to grunting in pain as I trudged up the stairs and out of the cold basement.

**Thanks for all the support. Any suggestions Review or PM… Also this probably has some mistakes if so please point out the worst and I'll try fix them… I'm exhausted goodnight…**


	5. Personal Tour

**Personal********Tour**

I awoke with something worse than any hangover I'd ever had. I groaned as I rolled off of the bed and flopped onto the floor. I felt the sweaty bandage across my head and the pain that was still present in my ribs although I didn't believe I'd broken or cracked any.

None the less it hurt like hell and I didn't want to get up but then remembered I had a lunch date with some very important elements and missing it would not do me any favours so gritting my teeth in pain I stood up and moved to the door.

It was definitely late afternoon by the way the sun shone and the sounds of all the ponies hat went about their daily business outside the windows. I supposed that Lyra and Bon Bon would be out at their jobs although what Lyra did I had no idea. Perhaps she was a professional pony snatcher?

I didn't really want to think about what had happened yesterday since I could imagine the amount of ridicule I'd receive from Niles had he known I'd had my ass handed to me from a girl and not even a trained assassin but some mare who was obsessed with hands.

I still had no idea where that obsession had come from and hoped it would stay that way. Just thinking about those furless, weird freakish freaks of nature creeped me out. Nile's talons were normal to my eyes but even when we saw the apes it had been a little freakish for us.

I decided it best not think about hands ever again if I could help it and went and had the longest, hottest shower of my life.

After getting out I grabbed my camera and went down the stairs and after checking nopony was in I was out the door and into the glorious sun of Ponyville.

I also took a small pouch full of bits in case I needed to pay for anything since stealing things when the great Detective Twilight was about seemed to lead to trouble which I really didn't need or want. So for the first time in well ever... I went about my way to have tea with some mare of awesome power who didn't know my job was to make their friend open a vault and steal their elements of harmony.

I had no clue which cafe we were supposed to meet in but I supposed it would be the most popular which was the one I'd eaten in the other day and so I headed in its direction. My desire to steal cropped up multiple times after passing easy targets but I told myself "Behave" and ignored them and kept walking like an ordinary pony.

My worries about which cafe it was were instantly dissipated when I saw that all six of the elements were sitting around a large circular table with a large pot of tea in the centre.

Rainbow Dash seemed restless and hovered above her seat in boredom whilst Pinkie pie although not bored seemed to be having fun building a tower of sugar. Fluttershy talked quietly with Rarity and Twilight read a small book with a mixed expression on her face.

I supposed she was still a little worried about how this apologising tea thing was going to go and I supposed that if I were student to the Ruler of Equestria I would be a little more outgoing in everything I did as well.

I decided it was time to stop watching them and went over to greet them all. Rainbow Dash was the first to notice my presence and exclaimed "Twilight he's finally shown up"! Everypony looked round and their expressions all changed to ones similar to Twilight whilst Twilight once more became as skittish and nervous as last night.

"I hope I didn't keep you all waiting too long but I overslept" I apologised and rubbed my bandage on my head without thinking. "Did you hurt yourself?" asked Twilight with a little bit of nervous worry but I shook my head and replied "Nothing serious just fell down the stairs a little, stupid of me really" before taking a spare space and sitting down.

It was then that I realised that there were only six ponies including me here be realised the Orchard worker Applejack was missing. Twilight seemed to notice my look and explained "We're not sure why Applejack didn't turn up but I'm sure she also overslept... at least I hope she did sleep".

I was a little confused but didn't pry and instead decided to get the nervous feeling out of he group by explaining "Everything's cool about yesterday, with hindsight I see the I perhaps over-reacted and it was quite an amazing coincidence that such a thing like that happened" which was true since as coincidences went that was one of my luckiest.

"Yeah well we're all so, so sorry about our parts in isolating you on one of your first days in Ponyville, especially me. Right girls?" asked Twilight and they all nodded solemnly and mumbled "Sorry" apart from the yellow Fluttershy who simply squeaked almost inaudibly.

"Ok well now that's over with let's get to the tea" said Twilight a little happier. She poured my tea first using her magic which still looked surprisingly shaky and then everypony else's before finally her own and asked "So Dawn you are an undertaker from the Griffon Kingdom"?

"Oh yeah I lied a lot yesterday" I remembered and careful tried to precisely remember everything I'd lied about yesterday. "Yeah well I know it's not the most exiting job but in a way it brings a kind of pleasant calm which you don't get in many jobs and I suppose I found that from an early age" I said with a sheepish chuckle.

"You won't get much work here Dawn, not many oldies left in Ponyville and everypony here's fighters" remarked Rainbow Dash who ignored her tea and continued flapping around the table. Everypony else was drinking their tea except Pinkie who was adding so much sugar that the tea had long since dissipated.

"So you come from the Griffon Kingdom?" asked Rarity politely and I responded "Yeah I-I grew up there with my parents helping to sell pens".

"Far out, I have a friend who's a Griffon and should be arriving in Ponyville soon, although she lived most her life in Equestria" replied Rainbow Dash, sharing an interesting piece of knowledge I just ate up with glee.

I saw Fluttershy was being a little quiet and asked "You are Fluttershy, the one who likes looking after animals correct?" I asked her and she seemed to stir a little and whisper something. All her friends looked on not interfering as I continued "I once had a Salamander" which sparked her attention and she asked "Really?" and I replied "Yeah and it had a nasty habit of setting itself on fire".

Now Twilight was interested and said "I've read about those, though I thought flame Salamanders were only available in Saddle Arabia"? I panicked for a moment and lied "I ugh... Special ordered it". She seemed to except this as an answer and I couldn't help but give a small sigh of relief.

I decided it was time to steer the conversation away from me and get down to the questioning "So I understand you're all like guardians of the Elements of Harmony?" I asked and they all nodded especially Twilight who enthusiastically asked "Do you wish to hear how we got them"?

I leaned forwards also forgetting my tea and trying not to sound desperate asked "Please do tell"? Twilight seemed like a fill takin a test and had a look of relief like she knew the answer to the question and began to explain.

Some of the things she explained about I already knew from talking with Rarity and other ponies but how they got the Elements had been a complete mystery until now.

It turned out that Twilight had been sent from Canterlot by the Princess to check on the preparation for the Summer Sun Celebration although Twilight hadn't wanted to go a first as she believed some ancient evil force called Nightmare Moon was coming back after a thousand years to bathe Equestria in eternal darkness.

Twilight went on to explain how each of her friends had been managing one part of decoration and prep that day and the other girls put in their own input when their parts came up.

Twilight remarked jokingly how she'd thought friendship was so unimportant at first but then when the Princess was due to raise the sun suddenly the children's holiday fear Nightmare Moon arose and did the typical villain thing of being over cocky and declaring Equestria an eternal darkness zone forever!

However then Twilight and the girls had gone on a trip through the Everfree forest to the old castle of the Princess of Equestria and through the journeys each had expressed a trait of friendship in them which had helped them overcome all obstacles in their way.

Finally reaching the castle Nightmare Moon destroyed the elements and did the classic monologue thing before teleporting to the upper part of the castle. Twilight followed her and then with her friends did a cool magical rainbow attack things which destroyed all wickedness in her heart and turned her into a weak little filly which "here's the twist" explained Rainbow Dash "Is actually Princess Luna Celestia's sister"!

I settled back in my seat in amazement at the quite thrilling tale which seemed to have been an awesome adventure. "Sea servants with awesome moustaches, Shadow bolts attempting to draw you in with promises of fame and fortune and then a large confrontation and amazing twist at the end it was almost as if it were a play and the girls had performed it all.

I realised they were all staring at me as if waiting for my judgement on the matter so I coughed to clear my throat before responding "I feel honoured to be in the presence of such famous, brave and all-round amazing mares" which to my own amazement I was since I suppose in a way we were fellow adventurers... in a very small and unconnected way.

They all looked at me with kindly faces and Twilight replied "You are such a gentlecolt, how could I have been so mean yesterday before I'd even gotten to know the real you". I felt a little tiny pain in my chest and wondered if I was having indigestion but realised that would be hard since I hadn't actually eaten or drank anything today.

I actually wasn't sure if it was pain, it was a confusing feeling and I wasn't quite sure if I liked it but I wasn't going to hover around it and replied "Well we-we all can make mistakes. Say can I get a photo with a couple of celebrities?" I asked with a grin and the girls nodded and I asked a nearby waiter to hold he camera of us all huddled close together.

He did so with a smile and afterwards asked us if we'd like anything else. I looked around and the girls all shook their heads and I asked "Can we have the bill please"?

He nodded and went to go count off our tab and I saw Twilight reach into her saddlebag for money. Wanting to keep the gentlecolt persona up I put my hoof on here and happily told her "Its ok I got this" before reaching into my pouch for bits.

She smiled and said "Oh that is so sweet of you Dawn but this is my apology and I'm going to pay for this". I chuckled and with a smirk replied "No, no-no I got this it would be an honour to pay for the mares that saved Equestria".

The others looked from me to Twilight as she stated without joking as he bill landed between us "It would mean a lot to me If I could just pay for this" and I replied similarly "No you must understand I need to pay for this for you".

She adopted an annoyed look and made a grab for the bill but then I spotted her and also grabbed it. We both ended up with it pinned to the table and she goggled before staring daggers and stating "I'm paying for this". I was not at all offended but actually hurt that she would consider paying for something and decreed "No I'm paying for this".

So then came the battle of the stares where we just looked at each other intensely. Her amazingly deep lavender eyes went on forever and I briefly wondered what she thought of my boring and ordinary eyes but then before I gave her a chance to mull it over and yanked he bill and said "Ok this is getting silly just let me pay for this"! However she wouldn't back down and stubbornly yanked he bill back whilst statin "I falsely accused you and that means that I will pay for this meal and I will have no argument"!

We both began to wrestle over the bill and out of the corner of my eyes I saw Fluttershy hide under the table whilst Pinkie pie magically seemed to pull popcorn out of nowhere and begin to watch us like a movie.

"Twilight you are being very, very silly now and I think you should stop" I said determined to pay the bucking bill. "I honk you are being obnoxious Mister Dawn and suggest you resist from you gentlecolt code and give me the Bill"!

I was getting really angry now and said "Listen Miss Sparkle this is my fault and I would like to pay the bill"! She shook her head and raising her voice yelled "No his is my fault and I shall be paying his bill"! "Listen you stubborn mule I'm buying and you can't stop me" I said tugging the bill so hard that it was wrenched from her hooves.

I made my way towards the waiter but suddenly I felt an enormous tug and suddenly magenta magic yanked the crumpled and dirty bill from my grasp and into Twilight's hooves.

"You sneaky little" I yelled before yelling "Magic is totally not fair"! She smirked and replied "Is too before trotting over to the waiter but when she went to get her mine she was surprised when she found her pouch was gone and after a quick look saw it resting in my hooves.

"How did you?" She asked and I replied "Party trick" before charging over to the waiter and trying to hand him my bits. However Twilight pushed me aside and began to try and pay but then I pushed her aside until eventually our legs got entangled and we both fell over. "Now look what you've done!" we both exclaimed.

I tried to stand but with a grunt Twilight held me down and began to crawl up to the waiter. I tugged her leg back and made my way slowly over as well she leapt on my back and tried to stop me when suddenly a very tired and angry sounding voice cried "Why don't you just split the money"!

We both turned round and saw the very tired looking Applejack staring madly at us both. My face burned despite how much I tried to stop it and I could see Twilight's face also a bright red in embarrassment.

We'd been reduced to animals crawling through the dirt to pay eight bits for tea whilst I could see a good number of ponies watched us like a movie.

The other elements tried to pretend they had seen nothing but Pinkie couldn't hold in her laugh and Rainbow her grin. Rarity just seemed horrified by the dirt we were now covered in whilst Fluttershy was still hiding under the table, obviously it had been too much stress for the poor gentle soul.

Twilight got off me and we both stood up and brushed ourselves down before I reached into my saddlebag and Twilight magically retrieved her bag and we both handed over half each of the intended price under the watchful gaze of Applejack who seemed to be the voice of reason around here.

I didn't say anything as the waiter scurried hurriedly away and instead turned to the wise mare Applejack and said "I am pleased to meet you Miss Applejack I am sorry for how immature I have his acted and..." but to my great amazement she'd fallen asleep right in from of me. "Damn she must work hard" I thought before turning to the other girls and bidding farewell with a bow.

"Sorry that things might have gotten out of hoof never the less thank you for the wonderful afternoon" I said with a final wave. I looked and Twilight and nodded "Miss Sparkle" before taking my leave.

I didn't look at Twilight as I walked away but I could feel her eyes on me and I didn't know they'd burn so much. All the other ponies seeing the drama was over took their leave as well and I couldn't help but give a huge frown.

"Who the hay does she think she is just trying to pay that bill, it should have been me who'd paid it after all what was the point of pretending to be a respectable pony who pays for all their things in life if you don't pay for anything" I thought to myself in outrage.

Then again I was also feeling really guilty and glanced back quickly to see if I could perhaps go apologise. "What if she doesn't want to speak to me ever again" I thought to myself and for some reason the prospect saddened me greatly to the point I was ready to turn back and see if she was still at the cafe.

However I supposed that doing that would make me look stupid so I kept on walking down the street and trying to ignore my feelings until I got to Bon Bon and Lyra's house and nudged he door open slightly.

However before I could open the door a sudden slight crackle and a small amount of purple energy suddenly appeared and not knowing what it was I took cover with a dive away from the door as to my amazement Twilight Sparkle appeared.

"Teleportation... nice" was all I could think as my mouth hung open like a gaping fish. Nopony else seemed to pay attention which meant that this was a pretty regular thing but to me this was probably the first time I'd seen a unicorn teleport although I'd never thought Twilight was that skilful.

I realised it had been two minutes since she had "arrived" at my doorstep and I was still on the floor with my mouth gaping like an idiot so I stood up and after getting my jaw working again asked "What"?

Twilight had also seemed to be in her own land of thought and with a shake of her head started "Oh... um well hi, sorry about startling you".

I shook my head furiously from side to side and replied "Its ok" before going over to greet her. I decided I might as well get my apology out of the way and began "Twilight" but to math my timing she also said "Dawn".

We looked at each other and I decided I should best her before she said anything else but we ended up both saying in unison "I'm really, really sorry for what happened back there"! "Damn what are the odds?" I thought with a grin.

She smiled as well and we both ended up laughing together me saying "I was worried I wouldn't actually get to apologise to you and it would be a shame what with how well we got on". "Really?" She asked "Because I thought the same thing and then remembered that It wouldn't be a complete apology unless I gave you your library card and took you out for the tour like I promised remember".

I nodded my head and replied "You have a better memory than me, I'll just close the door and then I'll accompany you for the tour" and after quickly hopping up the small step to Bon Bon and Lyra's house I shut the door before smiling and following Twilight to wherever she was going to lead me.

"Well I don't know all the places in Ponyville since I've only been here a week but the ponies here are really friendly and have really opened up with welcome hooves" she explained as we slowly trotted down the street.

"So I understand that you come from Canterlot?" I asked and she nodded and explained "Born and raised although don't think I'm some snob like the usual lot are I was always too busy studying to get into the social systems that wet on there. Lawn parties weren't for me".

"So you had no friends?" I asked without realising that was probably quite offensive. She paused for a second and I realised I might have said something a little offensive and apologised "Sorry that was rude of me" but she held up her hoof and said "Its ok I didn't have any friends, just Spike and a few acquaintances, oh and of course my brother".

This sparked my attention and I asked "Oh you have a brother"? I remembered he'd been training to be in the guard but beyond that I had no idea what had become of him.

"He just turned Captain in the Royal Guard a few months ago, I miss him a little but he seems to be happy and I'm not sure but I think he might have gotten a mare friend" she said with a smile.

"Interesting" I thought and continued with the questions whilst I had momentum and asked "So you saved Equestria"? She nodded but didn't seem to be boasting about the feat like somepony's would have loved to do had they the chance. "It was just a lot of luck and the power of friendship which overcame, I wouldn't have believed in it had I not experienced it first hand and been a part of it".

I smiled and prepared to ask her another question but was surprised when she directed a question at me instead. "Did you have any friends you miss back in the Griffon Kingdom"? I stared blankly for a minute before sort of telling the truth "Well there was one griffon, I think he went to try and become a diplomat in Canterlot for his Uncle or something".

Thinking of Nile's was strange and reminded me to check in with him sometime to make sure the plan was still on. However I couldn't think of such things right now and focused on the art of conversation instead.

Twilight showed me around the town slowly and pointed out various stores and over houses where ponies I might usually encounter during the day lived.

I noticed as I listened to her hat her voice had a nice and rhythmic harmony to it and I thought of complimenting her on it but believed it would be too corny.

She showed me each of her friends places. Rarity's boutique, Fluttershy's forest cottage, Sugarcube Corner where Pinkie lived and worked, Rainbow Dash was tricky so Twilight just pointed up at the sky where her house floated near Cloudsdale.

Finally we were walking up to Applejack's place where I was told she and her family grew Apples. I had thought she worked in the Orchard I'd previously but I'd have never guessed she'd owned it.

We walked past some fences and through the trees until we came upon a barn. I could hear some faint clunks which I assumed was Applejack working hard to bring in the large harvest I'd seen as I had come into Ponyville a few days ago.

We walked along the small trail and from side to side until we came across what looked like the most tired pony I'd ever seen trying to perform physical tasks way beyond her current capabilities. Her legs looked strong but her co-ordination and balance was totally off and she stumbled and tripped from side to side as she attempted to harvest the apples by bucking the tree. However she seemed to fall asleep halfway through each kick which also work her up simultaneously.

I found his funny but guessed that Twilight wouldn't see the funny side of things so I wisely kept my mouth closed. Twilight had a look of worry on her face and told me "You should just head home Dawn I think I should try and help Applejack with her sleeping problems".

I didn't feel like going, in fact if anything I felt like staying but then again it wasn't my place to intervene in the affairs of Twilight and her friends. "I understand Twilight, good luck with helping Applejack I'll see you tomorrow for that library book card" I said with a smile as I bid her farewell.

She smiled and waved as I moved past he trees and down the trail I'd come from with Twilight. "An interesting mare and one that I would definitely like to know more about on a more personal level" I thought to myself. "So that you can trick her" I reminded myself although I couldn't help but for some reason frown as I thought this.

I was feeling strange suddenly and my neck hurt a great deal suddenly. I scratched it and saw there was a slight rash forming where my amulet was usually around my cloak. It was a little painful but I couldn't stop itching and thinking about the amulet just made me more itchy.

I began to walk fast without even thinking about it and before long without knowing it I was running. All I knew was that I needed to check on my Amulet as if it were life and death. It had been almost a day since I'd worn it and I never liked leaving I alone for too long.

I entered Ponyville and quickly made my way to my house and without much care for other ponies I pushed aside a small amount of ponies and burst into the house.

Without a pause I quickly raced up the spiral stairs and into my room. I opened the cupboard where I'd left it invisible and turned it off. I was so relieved it was still here which was stranger since why wouldn't it be.

"Sorry" I said with a smile as I ran my hoof along the very cold metals me the misty red jewel in its centre. It felt good to just hold it and I supposed it wouldn't hurt to just wear it for a while.

I attached the amulet around my neck and felt the magical energy spread over the surface of my body when I pressed the centre of the jewel. I felt better instantly and my rash dissipated and I breathed out a huge breath I hadn't known I'd been holding. I looked outside and saw that the afternoon was still in full swing.

"I should write down everything I've learned" I told myself and retrieved the papers I'd written out yesterday. So much information had been given to me I knew it would take hours to write it all out but the.

I had nothing else to do today and so shelving the yearn to go out and find a dragon to annoy, steal something or cause something to explode I decided to just sit and write the report.

It was hard to put down the stories and knowledge I'd gained from the girls onto paper at first but then when I got into it page after page began to fly. I set down the camera I had used to take the group photograph and secretly the locations of the others homes and reminded myself to get the film developed sometime.

I watched as I put down so much information about the lives of these ponies and by the end of it I had about thirty pages all in all which had to be held together with a paperclip which struggled to fit round it.

I was running out of parchment and so I decided as he afternoon was coming to an end I had to go get some and get the film developed. I left the house and went to go get my materials when suddenly I was distracted by what looked like some temporary paramedic tent set up down the street.

Knowing I should just ignore it I couldn't help but be pry and so I went off to investigate. A nurse was worry idly going to and fro with buckets and such and when I arrived she sighed with relief and said "Thank goodness I need a break here take this bucket the pink one needs it the most" with that she practically ran away whilst I shouted "What are you?" but it was fairly clear when the smell hit me what was happening.

I opened the tent flap to see that everywhere I looked a pony with a green face, in cold sweats and the look of death was vomiting into a bucket identical to the one I was holding.

I saw mares, stallions, foals and to my great surprise even Pinkie Pie who was taking up two buckets in the corner of the tent. I held my breath and walked over to her with the bucks which as I arrived she grabbed hurriedly and threw up in.

"D-Dawn" she mumbled before once more spilling the contents of her stomach. "Pinkie what is happening to everypony?" I asked and looked away as she once again vomited. "App...Applejack... Baking bad" she murmured through glassy eyes as she threw up again.

"Ok well I'm going to find Twilight and tell her you're here so focus on getting better okay" I told her with a pat on the head but she just proceeded to throw up some more.

I left the ten and walked away hurriedly before enabling recognises me. I had't realised but I was still wearing my amulet and quickly made myself invisible upon reaching the nearest alleyway.

Not a second too soon as Twilight went by with the little purple dragon Spike who I could see was still fatigued by the stuff I'd used to knock him out with the hint before.

"What do you mean they're all sick" the little guy asked and Twilight sighed and explained "They're all in some tent I don't know Carrot Top just mentioned it on her way by and it's worth investigating.

I decided that I could buy more parchment later and followed Twilight to see if I could learn anything else about when was going on. They walked really slowly and Spike asked "So what was that tea with the pony who you thought stole the trophy like"? "Spike I thought I said we would never speak about that ever again" she said sternly and Spike laughed and teased "You're just upset cause that other pony who was he thief got away aren't you"?

Twilight huffed and instead of giving in to his annoying teasing answered his previous questions saying "He was a very nice pony and even wanted to pay for the bill..." She said with a pause before then explaining "I took him for a tour of Ponyville and then when I met Applejack I bid him goodbye and I haven't seen him since".

Spike couldn't help but smile and asked "Does he look like he's cool"? She frowned and replied "Well I'm a little confused he says he's an Undertaker but he seems so nice and charming if a little unsure like he's afraid how to act which is weird as Rarity seems to see him like some kind of dream stallion".

Spike instantly soured his expression and flatly stated "I don't like him" with a huff and looking away. It seems that the little assistant had a crush on the beauty Rarity... How cute.

Twilight laughed a little but she stopped abruptly. Coming across the tent instantly became all business and worried about what she might find inside. I decided that this was where I would take my leave and so without a noise left and walked in the opposite direction down the street for the photography shop.

The little dragon was quite interesting and if I saw Twilight then I would have to find a way to open up a conversation and learn more about how it had come to be under her care. Whatever I had seen in the past I had yet to see a dragon that acted civilised or a least not rude.

I did once meet a younger dragon only about five times the size of me who'd tried to eat me but luckily he wasn't able to chew as I'd bucked his teeth out beforehand which was actually the entire reason that he'd tried to eat me in the first place.

I entered the photographer shop and after arguing over a pick up time I left the photos to be developed and went to shop for office supplies. I paid with bits and didn't steal anything and actually felt good walking around with my amulet.

I supposed in a way nopony had really seen me with it but when a vendor gave me a weird look after buying a late lunch I decided I best put it away. With a bag of parchment clutched between my teen I returned and retrieved my camera and developed photos which looked a little grainy but good enough for the job.

I walked back down the street for the millionth time that day as the sun set and entered my house just as twilight appeared. Thinking about the Twilight made me think about Twilight and I wondered if Twilight was looking at the same amazing twilight I was looking at.

Just thinking about the amazing twilight made me think about Twilight's looks as well but before I could let my mind wonder a voice startled me from behind by asking "Do you need any help with your bags"?

I stopped thinking about dusk and whirled round to see Lyra standing behind me. She looked less intimidating without the black mask and less threatening now that she wasn't so forward but instead it seemed she was a little shy.

However since the last thing I recalled was stumbling past her and up the stairs for the first air I couldn't help but give a little whiny of fear and step back a little.

However I quickly compensated by saying "No that is fine Lyra" although a pained smile was all I could achieve. She nodded and I waited for her to step back and let me get to the stairs.

When nothing happened I asked "Do you need something"? "She looked behind her to see probably if Bon Bon was there and pleaded "You said you know about the apes and you mentioned that you could tell me about them so I know I screwed up and you have no idea... How sorry I am but I really need to know everything you know about hands"!

I sighed and rubbed my eyes before telling her "Fine I'll just go upstairs and drop these things then meet in the lounge and then we can talk okay" I told her. She stepped back and nodded and almost like Pinkie Pie she exploded with hyperactive energy and raced over to the sofa.

I less than enthusiastically made my way over to the stairs and after quickly dropping my stuff off I went back to the lounge and with a sigh lay down on the couch. Lyra was once more sitting down on her flank in the strange way she'd made me sit yesterday and I couldn't help but ask "Doesn't hat hurt"?

She shrugged and didn't respond. We sat in silence for a minute when I decided to get it over with and asked "What is it you want to know"? She waited for a few moments before she replied "Everything".

If it weren't for my manly pride I think I might have had a nervous breakdown and burst into tears. "How was I supposed to fit six months into an hour at max, it just couldn't be done"?

The answer was of course quite simple and really obvious... I just lied. "Well I only chanced upon an ape once when in The Griffon Kingdom and he came into the shop to buy something which he called a pen" I began.

I didn't account for how much detail Lyra wanted and soon without even knowing it the Twilight zone moved into darkness and as I was told the new vice-ruler of Equestria Princess Luna's moon was out and showing off its stuff. In a way I liked the moon as I liked to frequent bars and such in the various towns Niles and I stopped off in.

Of course that was impossible here since alcohol in Ponyville seemed to be non-existent except for cider and other weak drinks. However it almost seemed like I was in a daze when finally Lyra said "Thanks you have no idea how much this means to me" and left for her basement.

I think that part of my brain had fallen asleep and so I sluggishly got up and stretched. I was numb all over and exhausted from speaking to the minty unicorn. "Bon Bon has her hooves full" I thought as I made my way slowly upstairs.

After hiding my amulet and putting he photos and documents in a file I'd bought whilst out I finally got ready for bed and as exhausted as I was I literally just collapsed onto the mattress. A brief thought worried about Twilight, Pinkie and the tired Applejack but then all thought processes disappeared and I slipped into dreams

**Tanks 4 reviews. Writing this on Ipod so difficult to update. Will try :)**


	6. Arrival

**Arrival-The Tales of Niles**

I flapped my wings as I touched down near to a donut shop in the capital of Canterlot just after dusk.

I was slightly damp since I'd flown through a storm over the Everfree but it had dissipated when I got into Equestrian airspace and so with a ruffle of my feathers I shook myself dry.

I only had a bag on my back with the things I'd need for my Uncle and since I'd given the rest to Dawn it felt weird to have so little it felt wrong to not be carrying anything remotely shiny. "That's not the only weird thing" I thought as I looked along the rooftops and chimney tops of Canterlot.

The city screamed rich, the ponies with their top hats and fine and wacky dresses as i observed on nearby shop mannequins, the jewellery and horseshoe shops and of course the gigantic castle at the top which showed just how well the city was built into the mountain.

My wings were tired as I'd flown for six hours straight so I decided I needed a little pick me up and went into the coffee and donut store for a bite to eat. The pony that looked at me was tired but he nodded to me as I entered and went back to cleaning.

I looked over at all of the wonderful choices but before I could choose anything a haunting voice from the past wafted its way across the shop. "What are you doing here boy" came the voice of my Uncle and I turned slowly in surprise to see him sitting by a table with coffee and an entire donut box out before him.

It had been twelve years since I'd seen him or any actual relation of my family and it seemed the years hadn't been kind.

He had bags under his eyes, he'd sprouted a pot-belly and his feathers sheen had diminished greatly it was a little sad actually.

"Uncle" I stammered and went over to try and greet him in the traditional Griffon way when he held up his talon and ordered "Close enough boy, you're either here to talk to me or steal something so choose what to do and then leave peacefully before I call the guard on you".

I tried to look hurt but I couldn't help but smirk at his frown. "You can't do a thing old Uncle of mine, Equestrian law doesn't permit you to act in any way to arrest me" I said sitting down at the opposite end of the table.

I went for one of his donuts but he smacked my hand away and angrily asked "You've already done enough to disgrace the family and break your Mother and Father's hearts so what is it you need so I can be rid of you"!

I frowned at the thought of my parents and with a sigh explained "Maybe if they weren't so intent of preening the King's wings then I wouldn't have left besides Philius and Tulius were the older ones and always got their affection I needed to fly the nest and make my own way in the world".

"Yes well when you flew the nest you didn't need to take the family crest, the King's crown and steal that train to do it"! I would have laughed had I not remembered I actually needed a favour from the old man.

I began in an apologetic tone and pleaded "I was distracted however Uncle my years of travel although fun and amazing have given me time to think and reflect on what I did which is why I come bearing gifts" I finished reaching into my bag and bringing out the Family crest, the small crown of the Falcarian Royal line and a bag filled with bits and shiny precious gems.

Although my Uncle was a respectable Griffon and diplomat he like all Griffons liked shiny things and the sight of all these precious jewels made him wide eyed and he exclaimed "How"?

I shrugged and told him "I have had a change of heart and want to give these things back as an apology to the King although I would also like something in return".

He looked away from the riches with suspicion in his eyes and asked "What do you want"? I smiled and explained my demands which were in fairness only three.

"I of course want pardoned and to have my pardon signed by the King himself and then I want you to pardon me and finally I want a job"! All these things confused him so he explained "I cannot get the family to pardon you with all the shame you have brought on us, I cannot get the king to sign the pardon although I can get the government to do so and why in the name of the ancients would you want a job"?!

I frowned at all he had said and demanded "Why can the King not sign this confession the government don't do anything but decided on where to place park trash cans and where you can park your carts and I don't want the family to pardon me only you Uncle and for your information I have decided that my time of running around and stealing things is over and now is the time for me to get job and maybe in a few years settle down and raise a family" I said lying through my teeth with a smile which I though was quite convincing.

My Uncle didn't look convinced and after picking up the family crest he explained "Your brothers turned out to be as rotten as you and practically stole the family wealth and fled after you had left.

Your parents... my sister left to one part of the Kingdom whilst your Father a once trusted advisor and friend of he King became a gambler and a drunkard and it is all because you left and tore the family's soul apart!" he shouted standing to his full height.

I stood as well and sternly told him "I am no longer some small eaglet that was pushed around and made to stand in front of the cameras whilst he was ogled by the crowds and picked on by his bastard brothers. I don't want anything to do with the family Uncle but I recall you being the kindest of them and in a way I do wish to serve our land, to give back and this seems the best way to do it so what do you say?" I asked holding out my talon.

He looked at me with a pained glaze and hopefully he believed that my eyes were telling him the truth. He glanced over at the returned treasures and with a slow motion stretched out his talon to shake mine.

I smiled even as he said "I will pardon you but know that for what you've done I can never forgive you" and with that he let go of my talon and sat back down.

I too sat down with a happy feeling that I was a step closer to getting that position as diplomat. "So Uncle how fares the Kingdom, it's been about five years since I was in it and have not caught up on the most recent news" I said striking up a conversation.

My Uncle kept a soured expression and explained "Terrible, the Kingdom is under strain as the government is trying to gain more power and with the recent rallies and the famines sweeping the land they are doing well in winning over the populace".

The King cannot sign a thing right now as he is on his deathbed with an un-curable disease and his sons are at each other's throats for the seat he will leave behind"!

Things certainly did seem bad... not that I really cared but it was a good time to show that it looked like I cared so I added "Terrible, my actions cannot have helped in any way" hanging my head in pretend shame.

My Uncle noticed this and his slatted eyes softened slightly and with a sigh he asked "What job do you want as I think a mail courier is needed to deliver messages for the towns nearest Canterlot and if I remember right you were a good flyer" but I stopped him and explained "I need more of a job in your line of work Uncle".

His eyes once more seemed to explode out of his skull in a very comical way and before I could think of something to say he burst out with "So you came to steal something from the princess's then, maybe their crowns or maybe the Elements of Harmony or maybe you just came to Canterlot to crash another train instead"!

I was about to retort with a reasonable explanation but something he'd said made me pause for thought and I asked "What do you mean by Princess's"?

My Uncle looked at me as if I was some kind of child that would rather chase butterflies than learn the laws of the lands act off by heart like every good Griffon should and replied with a chuckle "You really have lost touch with current events.

Equestria is also changing but for the better, whilst our rulers are dying off and squabbling Celestia's younger sister Princess Luna has returned to rule at her side as the ruler of the night.

Oh and the little Princess Cadence which you actually were introduced to once at a Royal visit when you were younger is all grown up now and looking like she will be ruling something soon so yes Princess's which I have great respect for and you should too if you can even get a job as a window washer"!

"Wow I wonder if Niles knows this, three Princesses could make our job riskier" I thought. I adopted a once more sorrowful expression and explained "I realise that this is all so sudden and you probably will suspect me but I promise you that this is all sincere... I'm really sorry".

My Uncle sighed and asked "You still remember all the laws and acts of the land I am correct"?

I nodded and he shook his head and declared "Wrong, twelve years have passed and you have no idea of those laws, you will go to the Canterlot Public library and learn those laws and in turn the laws of Equestria and a few neighbouring countries and then you will report to me in the Embassy in the castle and I shall test you and if you fail one question you will not be hired and I shall actually request the Princess to have you brought before a Royal Court in our Kingdom and by damn if it takes me down as well I will still do it willingly"!

His speech really hit home and I nodded quickly whilst suppressing a snigger on The inside at his stupidity. "Me serve my homeland" I thought. Niles would probably be howling at the prospect of it.

There was no want in me to protect my country or to serve it... If anything it would be more fitting if for once my country could protect and serve me.

"You can't just join a government branch with the common knowledge you have so if you want to even step into that castle with a chance then you will heed my words".

"I would have it no other way" I lied although the prospect of looking through such things like books and more chunky books was instantly a downer and had my Uncle not been there I would have sagged my shoulders.

Dawn was into researching, reading and writing and I was always the one who talked and got the contracts or the info from ponies, zebras whoever I needed to talk to I got the info.

I was also the better fighter, the one who could hold things and fly whilst Dawn although he had once tried to fly and broken his legs wasn't too good at attacking or holding things which required more complexity like my rifle.

Thinking of it made me miss it a little. In a way it was my ace which I could use whenever the situation got out of hoof. However I wasn't as attached to it as Dawn was to his little ace which was in truth probably worth the whole deck of cards.

Dawn's magical amulet with the weird gem was instrument in getting us from A to B without being noticed and escaping when there was nowhere else to go. I had only used it once and Dawn hadn't been happy about it in fact it had almost destroyed our friendship.

It was strange also how he was driven unlike me by the challenge of the steal or the investigation or the date or whatever crazy and dangerous thing we were doing and he had told me it was because his cutie mark was that of danger or more like challenge mixed with a large dosage of danger.

He was also the better runner, jumper and wit than me but in the end we were both equally good as partners and an undefeatable team.

I realised I'd been doing the thing Dawn usually did of daydreaming and quickly snapped my head to attention and promised "I won't let you down Uncle"!

"See you don't boy, I'm taking a leaf from the book of the Princess by giving you a second chance but backstabbing me will mean more than shame and dis-honour. Now get out of my sight!" he said dangerously and I respectfully bowed and exited he care the donut attendant pretending he hadn't been listening and going back to cleaning mugs.

I had a lot to do and I didn't want to spend weeks reading so I decided that although I didn't as of yet have a hotel I would get started. I thought briefly of Dawn and looked at the glinting sapphires and gold in a jewellery store.

"Books can wait" I said with my tongue hanging out of my mouth in the joy of shiny things.

**This was just an experiment if it's too confusing I won't do POV switches. Review or PM your opinion**. **Thank you everyone who reviewed really helped me writing :)**


	7. Story Time

**Story Time**

"I awoke with a sigh and amazingly enough the sun rising outside which surprised me as I recall being exhausted and thought I would wake up much more sleepy and in the afternoon not so early in the day.

I climbed out of bed and stretched. I was feeling quite athletic and happy today and could't think why in Equestria I'd woken up in such a good mood.

I silently crept to the bathroom and had a quick shower before silently creeping down the stairs and making myself a sandwich.

Suddenly a noise startled me from the front door and I heard a loud crash and the table which made my sandwich shake violently.

I cringed and got up to open the door to find out what shenanigan was occurring now. However when stepping out the door in fear of the worst I found that instead of a stampede a mare with a grey coat, bubbles for a cutie mark and a dusty blond mane with a cap signifying her as a mail mare was staring up at me from her crashed position on the floor.

"Well hello there mister" she said in a strange way looking at me. I wasn't sure if she was looking at me as her eyes seemed to be facing different directions and I wondered if the crash had done something and waved my hoof across her eyes to see if she could see me.

She waved back and I jumped in surprise and realised that although cross-eyes the mare could see perfectly and so I helped her to her hooves and asked her "Are you ok ma'am"'to which she responded kindly "Yeah I even managed to save your mail" she said bringing the bag she'd fallen on around and after ruffling through it with her head bringing out a creased letter held firmly between her teeth.

I took it with thanks and stared at her as she stood there watching me. I waited for her to go but after a minute she hadn't moved and I coughed awkwardly. She looked at me as if I was odd and asked "Ain't you gonna open that"?

I nodded and told her "Yeah in my house, alone with nopony staring at me". I smiled as best I could and hoped she'd get the message.

"Sorry but I can't hang around here got more mail to deliver" she told me with a cheery wave goodbye as she stepped out of the doorway and after a few awkward and slightly dizzy steps she took off and flew surprisingly fast through the air barrel-rolling all the time she did.

"What a strange mare" I remarked and kicked he door shut before paying close attention to the lettering on the envelope of my letter.

I had ready guessed who the sender was and as I ripped into it my thoughts were confirmed when the crest of Niles's family showed up and note began.

It read:

"Dawn"

"I hope you are well and winding down (_though I doubt it_) like you truly wished. I have myself not wound down In the three days since my arrival and have instead of stealing as I suspect you have been doing been studying for the position of a diplomatic ambassador or something I have only met with my Uncle twice and believe it is going to work out as long as I know everything about what some old ass did to give mules more rights five hundred years ago. Anyways I want a reply after you burn this letter. Is the mare easy to trick? Is she powerful? Are you already wooing her with your stories of how amazing you are? Also take notice that there are more Princess's than we originally thought, might want to check it out.

Your partner Niles

P.S "If this is going to work I'd prefer to have this all ready by the Grand Galloping Gala which is to my knowledge in two months so, just a heads up".

The note ended with a little scribble of his family crest which he hadn't used in years. "Must be practicing" I thought as I screwed up the letter and after lighting the cooker in the kitchen threw it on and watched it burst into flames.

I wiped the ash into a plate and washed it down the nearby sink so that truly no-pony could read it. I knew of two Princesses' but not of a third but supposed it only really affected Niles although I should not let this factor escape my attention.

I ate the sandwich fast and with a quick wash of my hooves I was out the door and almost forgot that I wanted to take photos of the local stores and homes of the mane six. I retrieved my camera and with a contented sigh raced out and into the shadow of clouds.

That was my mistake, it was clear sun with no clouds a few minutes ago with the mail mare so how was it possible to have clouds around at this time of the morning.

I wondered this in a split second as at the same time I took in the fact that the horizon was clear which meant that the shadow was isolated and isolated things hanging over my house were sure to not be good.

I jumped back in the house door as what sounded like thunder rocked the house and a large flash and crack occurred.

I peeked outside the nearest window and saw that where I was standing was complete ash and a large black mark on the floor.

Also I noticed that above it was a dark black raincloud with a certain rainbow mare Pegasus on it with a look of boredom on her face.

"Pinkie it didn't work we should have done it on Spike like i said I can't hear any hiccups or actually anything for that matter"!

The cloud hovered away and suddenly Pinkie popped up out of nowhere and bounced over to where Rainbow Dash was staring as the black stain by my front door.

Like Rainbow she was puzzled but both their expressions became pricelessly shocked and then out of control when they spotted he crater and Pinkie screamed "We killed Dawn, Twilight will kill us" before proceeding to jump into Rainbow Dash's fore legs. Rainbow Dash dropped pinkie and exclaimed "I can never join the Wonderbolts if they lock me in a dungeon!" before looking as if she was going to faint.

Although it would have been fun to watch her fall over they were Elements and Twilight's friends and being in their good books would better me immensely. I stepped out and asked "If that was a prank then it was little lame I wasn't even out of the door".

They both wheeled round and Pinkie almost looked so happy she wanted to kill me and after a brief bound she enveloped me in quit and whilst hyperventilating exclaimed "Thank Celestia you're alive we thought we'd killed you on Rainbow that one was too powerful next time we need to be more careful"!

Rainbow seemed to be a little embarrassed that she'd nearly murdered me and when Pinkie explained they were going to do it again she exclaimed "Oh no no I don't want to be doing that or anything else like it ever again I could have killed somepony"!

I saw that they were about to have a disagreement and egged Rainbow Dash on saying "It was a good attempt just don't kick the cloud so violently and try not to be in a place that he shade of the cloud will be easily notice".

She looked from me to Pinkie's puppy dog eyed face and

With a sigh gave in and said "Well okay Pinkie but only once more and we're going to do Spike this time, at least fire doesn't burn him"!

Pinkie bounded away from me with a yippee and apologised "Really sorry Mr Dawn" like a naughty school filly before bouncing off to go and prank somepony else.

I smiled and went to leave but Rainbow Dash held me up and told me "By the way Dawn after we pranked ya I was going to ask you to meet an old Griffon friend of mine who grew up in Equestria but just went to explore her homeland a little she'll be arriving after lunch and be near the clouds of the plains by the Everfree if you could come it would be great".

I nodded and said "That would be lovely as it would give me the perfect cover story to go out and snap pictures of the houses of he mane six though I doubted anypony would care."Oh and also Cheerilee wanted to see you to ask something".

I was confused now "Who was Cheerilee and Rainbow Dash seeing my confusion explained "Cheerilee is the local teacher for Ponyville and teaches in the school a little close to Applejack's farm". Rainbow was cut off by Pinkie shouting "Come on Rainbow Dash, oh and remember the cloud" and with a brief wave she said "bye" before grabbing the cloud and whizzing off.

"What would a teacher want with me I wonder?" I asked myself and although I would have liked to just ignore the request my curiosity of course got the better of me and I decided that at least I could get a good shot of the Apple Family farm and see where this teachers request thing went.

I stepped into the street and over the pile I ash which might have turned out to have been me. I cracked my neck and strode in the direction of what I remembered was Applejack's farm.

"This teacher might have some useful information that could aid me in my quest for gathering information about the girls but I didn't like how I would probably have to interact with... Children.

I was not good with foals or any type of baby for that matter. I'd always put on a pained smile and let Niles do the talking since it seemed that when he got hold of a foal he regressed to the age of one. Or was it an eaglet? I couldn't remember what a Griffon was called at that age.

I kept walking with a feeling of anxiousness which as I rounded the corner of some trees didn't dissipate as I saw about twenty of the little... angels all trotting happily into the school or talking outside.

"Niles it you are drinking champagne in the lap of luxury right now I will kill you!" I cried to myself mentally as I slowly stepped forwards with each step feeling like I was wearing boots made of iron.

It wasn't so bad once I actually got up to the school as most of the kids had gone inside and the building was a nice rustic looking thing with a spite and small bell and a little playground area. I huffed since I couldn't remember having done anything remotely fun when I was a... colt.

I decided I should stop lingering on the pathetic past and charge into the dangerous future and I supposed that in a way you couldn't get any more dangerous than this. So with a smile I walked up the small amount of stairs behind a filly with ginger hair that went everywhere and into a little hallway where all the children's saddlebags were hung.

The walls were covered in pasta drawings and other stupid kid stuff but internally I kept telling myself "You wanted a vacation, get it over with then go back to stalking the Elements of Harmony"!

There were two doors at the end of the little hallway and whilst one was labelled classroom the other was labelled office. I walked up to the office and knocked briefly before waiting for a reply from the other side.

Nothing happened so I knocked harder and entered with the door creaking open a little. The teacher Cheerilee was slumped on her desk and snoring with piles of paper and books titled homework followed by the names of fillies and colts.

"She must have fallen asleep or something" I thought and strode forwards to shake her. She didn't respond and instead started neighing softly in her sleep as I poked and prodded her in an attempt to get her to wake up.

"Miss err... Please wake up" I said whilst shaking her. Suddenly a crash came from the room next to me and I heard laughing and knew that the children were getting a little bit bored waiting for their teacher.

"Wake up!" I yelled into her ear but nothing happened. Even a pony as tired as Applejack had been should have been able to wake up after that so I began to suspect foul play was around... Or should I say "Foal play"!

I began to search the tiny office and eventually located a normal and average cup of coffee. I looked an it and smelt he half drunken and cold cup. It smelt of coffee but then like some kind of plastic. I looked around the room and through some of her files until I spotted something in the trashcan.

The trashcan was filled with empty sleeping pill boxes with a figure of a pony sleeping on the front stating it will knock you out for hours.

I was amazed by how many there were and figured that with the amount she'd put into her drink she was lucky she hadn't killed herself or given her brain damage... That is if she even gave herself these tablets.

Although colts and fillies were really annoying and by the sound of it were destroying the classroom I doubted they'd have the gall to put this amount of pills into her drink plus it would be hard for children to ask for such strong pills over the counter.

"Ok I need to tell Twilight, she'll know what to do" I said but as I turned to leave a little voice from behind me chirped out "Hiya Mister"! I almost jumped out of my skin as I stared at a little yellow filly with apple red hair and a bow nearly tied to it.

She had the cutest face on and it terrified me to the point that I was ready to go all kung-Fu on her but then remembered that this was just a defenceless filly and not a fearsome dragon... So why was I so afraid?!

"Are you the substitute" she asked in a cute southern accent much like Applejack's but younger and I responded "Eem y-e-a-h sure" before trying to slip away and the little filly yelled "Super, Miss Cheerilee said she wasn't feeling so well yesterday but I never knew she'd be sick, do you want me to show you to the class"?

As she said this a loud crash was heard and a sudden splat of red paint appeared on the window on the door leading into a classroom. "No that is, I-I am we" I stuttered over my words and didn't realise I was being pushed towards he door. "I'm not the" but then before I could say a thing the door was opened up and I was practically shoved my a filly not even half my size into a class of screaming school children.

"Please Celestia I didn't mean to to steal and lie and cheat and trick my way through life I don't deserve this" I prayed as I took in the sight.

Two obviously gossip girls one an annoying pink and the other a silver grey were gossiping away in a corner whilst two colts; one a chubby and green Unicorn whilst the other a yellow and tall and lanky one were having a paint fight.

Some other kids were playing around as well and a white unicorn and a small orange Pegasus with an electric purple mane were taking at the back quietly to themselves.

I stared dumbly at the kids and they all in turn stopped what they were doing and stared dumbly back. I knew that unless I did something in the next five seconds I would lose control of the very horrifying situation I was now in so I yelled hoarsely "Everypony take your seats!" And watched as they all scampered into their allotted places the little yellow filly behind me sitting next to the ginger haired filly I'd seen before.

"Ok now you just have to explain why you are not actually teaching here and that this is all just a big misunderstanding" I told myself.

However my brain had other ideas as I remembered that in my research that two of the elements had family here and I guessed clearly that the little filly was actually Applejack's sister and somewhere was Rarity's although I couldn't clearly see which filly in the room would match Rarity... Perhaps one of the gossiping girls which now just looked bored as I stared around the room.

So I supposed it wouldn't matter to play along despite my brain telling myself how mad I was I said "Hello Everypony" with the tamest smile ever. All the kids said nothing and I introduced myself "My name is Dawn and I'm going to just substitute your class for today as Miss Cheerilee is feeling a little more tired than usual

I wrote my name up on the bored but whilst my back was turned I was shocked when out of nowhere a very large eraser came flying and hit the back of my head.

There was sniggering which seemed to completely extinguish it when I angrily turned round and asked "Ok who through that? Come on I won't be angry but I will be absolutely furious instead!" I told them all as I scanned he classroom.

Everypony just stared at me almost sinisterly and I grudgingly turned round and finished writing my name before he kids could see he sweat starting to run off me. I could see that they could smell fear easily and I wondered if I should back out whilst there was time.

However it was a great way to learn stuff about two of the elemental bearers so I decided to ask "Now I don't know anypony's name so if you could all just come up to the board and introduce yourself with a little bit about you then that would be great".

I sat down at my temporary desk and after moving a picture of an insane filly with square hair that hadn't been in style for years and braces the size of her face. "Must be Cheerilee's sister" I thought as the plump, green unicorn stood up and with a small snigger came up to the front.

I didn't like the way he looked and when he came up to the front I could tell why he was holding in a snigger. "My name is Lord Snipsilworth the second and I am over 500 years old and heir to the throne of Canterlot"! Everypony in the classroom laughed at a joke which without even trying had instantly made me want to jump off a bridge with how pathetically bland it had been.

However I supposed that when you were a colt things were more awesome and innocent and a joke that would seem stupid to an adult was hilarious to you.

That didn't stop me from going overboard and losing my cool and yelling "Alright! How about we skip the intros for later and have ourselves a little story!" I yelled with an insane grin on my face.

All the children actually seemed to become all bubbly and elated and instantly began to list off the books in the small library in the corner that they wanted me to read out to them.

I grinned and probably made the little fillies and colts sitting in the front row move back a bit when I replied -"Oh no this is a special story which is not in a book and I think you kids will appreciate most of all"!

Despite some disappointment there was still the bubbliness of the prospect of a story and the small and orange Pegasus in the back put up her hoof and asked "What's it called Mr"?

I put my hooves up on the desk and replied with a smile "The story of where rainbows actually come from". Without further ado I began the tale whilst the children eagerly listened on.

I didn't know how fast time could go and soon hours had flown by before finally I uttered the last sentence and sat up to see how everypony was feeling after the very long but entertaining story. As expected there was no clapping, no cheering or laughing and instead there were eyes that simply stared wide and vacantly into the distance, tears of silence from some and what appeared to be a look of nausea on the face of Snips who had thrown up in his desk.

"Now children I have time for another delightful little story about Cupcakes but if you all still want to tell me a little about yourselves then we can also do that" I said waiting for he inevitable answer.

There was no protest and a drone of tiny scared voices stammered "P-P-Please Sir, yes sir". I nodded and pointed to the Pegasus in the back to stand up and present her name. She stood up slowly and before she could even teach the front fainted onto the floor. I sighed... It was still an hour before lunch.

However the hour turned out to be pleasantly quiet with all the kids neatly filing in and out and telling me their names and a little about themselves. I learned that the small ones I wanted were called Applebloom and Sweetiebelle and the passed out filly someone informed me was called Scootaloo although I didn't really care much for her name.

The clock reached one and the silver filly in the front row rose and asked quickly "Can we go to lunch"? I nodded and answered "Yes, everypony but Applebloom and Sweetibelle are excused and can have lunch but afterwards I want you all back here sharpish"!

Everypony scurried out with averted gazes and sagging shoulders and triumphantly dusted my hooves and said "My work here is don before turning to the two fillies and asking "I saw attention during my story was lacking in you two and for that I want you all to recite everything you have ever done in your lives as punishment I want to know everything about you and your sisters.

The two fillies were almost petrified and the apple family one answered "P-Please just d-d-d-don't tell us any more stories Mr"!

So they began to talk bless their little hearts. I supposed that it was probably a little creepy to gather information this way but I was committed now and besides the fruitful information they began to pour out of their mouths was too good to turn down.

After half an hour extra they were done and I nodded and told them "Run along" right after snapping a picture of the both of them. I was pleased with everything. Rarity's parents seemed to be quite wealthy and Applebloom's family quite extensive more doors for manipulation were opening up day by day.

I also knew that I had to make sure the kids didn't talk as the consequences would raise too many questions. One was how I had heard of a story so evil and another why I needed such detailed information on the two elements and their sisters.

So as here was still time before lunch finished I went out of a back window and sneaked my way back to my house to retrieve a small vial of the blue stuff I'd used on Spike to get him to sleep the other day.

Hopefully they would all think I was a dream and that they had imagined it all by the time they woke up. I grinned evilly and almost laughed. Being the bad guy was just so much fun!

Then again there was a little niggling in the back of my skull which might have been guilt. Telling children such a story was simply evil and their innocence was almost gone thanks to my handy work. Then again I was going to drug them till they couldn't remember anymore so that made it ok.

I got back to my house and retrieved the small vial which I held firmly between my teeth before once more setting in the direction of the school.

I saw Pinkie from a distance bouncing along happily with a bunch if comical and silly practical joker things all over her. Practical jokes were always funny as long as they weren't against me was my way of thinking and was pleased I'd always been able to catch out Niles's attempts at pranking me.

I reminded myself to respond to Nile's note and wasn't sure what I'd write. So many... interesting experiences had occurred but I didn't know what to think about them mostly.

I returned to the school to see the children playing outside. Well they weren't really playing, just standing and staring vacantly at the air with those eyes still wide. I was glad I was going to help them forget, the stare was just so creepy.

There was a bell at entrance to the school and I rang it a few times and ordered everypony inside. Instead of the rabble and disorganised way they'd all used to come in like now there was almost marching in formation.

"Okay if you won't say it I will... I am the world's best teacher" I told myself with a self-satisfied grin. I had created order out of the chaos and now my rule was completely obeyed... I could give Celestia a few tips if she ever got on the wrong side of her little ponies.

Everypony marched inside followed by me finally. They took seats at their desks and nobody talked. I saw there was a large bottle of juice in the corner maybe for snacks and after picking one up and turning my back I emptied the entire vial into it before giving it a shake and retrieving some plastic cups and ordering "Now you shall all drink your after lunch juice and you shall drink all of it"!

I poured a cup for everypony and sat it down on their desks before taking a step back and watching them. Applebloom smelled it and put her hand up and asked "M-Mr Dawn why does i-it smell like plastic"? I sighed, these little creeps were getting to my and furiously I yelled "Drink the damn juice this instant!" before banging the desk and creating a huge crack in it.

They erupted into a set of frights and gulped it down and stared wide eyes at me. I smiled as I watched them all flop down onto their desks and happily gave a sigh of relief. Thank goodness that's over.

However I was wrong as I turned and saw that the teacher Cheerilee was staring at me with a shocked expression at the sight of her sleepy children. "What have you done?" she demanded.

"This is karma" I thought and explained "Ok I see that his looks bad but you see I was asked by Rainbow Dash to come here for some reason and found you passed out at your desk with no way to revive you.

So I was going to get Twilight but then figured that I could teach your class and I regretted his decision as they voting of control so I laced their juices with sleeping pills and kind of... put them to sleep" I said with a charming smile as now that I looked at I Cheerliee was quite an attractive and pretty mare.

However I shouldn't have been paying attention to the face and instead the hoof as a huge slap came by way and suddenly my head was facing the left side and a stinging pain I actually had experienced a few times was once more felt.

"You cad! You can't just drug kids to sleep! I know your intentions were good and the job can be stressful and taking over for me was really kind but this is not how we deal with kids!" she yelled angrily.

I backed up as she pointed threateningly at me "I thank you for helping me out as I'm really tired lately and don't get much rest but next time please call Twilight" she said.

I apologised once more and she took it better and didn't seem too angry when I explained they'd wake up when they needed to go home. I was excused by Cheerilee without her even telling me why I had to be there and shoved back out into the outside of the afternoon.

"Don't come near these children again it you please Mr Dawn. They are sensitive souls and shouting and drugging them is out of the question so please let me do my job and you can do yours when somepony does" she angrily said retreating back into the school.

"That was certainly worthy of an entire chapter in my Autobiography which I shall now definitely need to write" I told myself as I began to walk away from the school.

Thanks to Cheerliee I could now really feel the guilt and pain of my foalish action but then again I really couldn't handle children like at all. I tipped my hat to Cheerilee however since she did this every day and for a living and supposed that if I had to teach those little brats without using extreme methods I'd pour myself a cup of sleep and probably wash it down with something stronger than coffee.

I was surprised however that I had gotten out of there with only a smack and not a full puny in the face. I saw it was well into the afternoon and decided I'd head over to meet Rainbow Dash's friend if they'd waited for me that was.

I thought it better to head through the town however instead of circling around to the meadow and wasting too much time. I hurried along and went over the things the children had told me that I would have to put in my notes when I was surprised by the sight of none other than a griffon right in the centre of Ponyville walking past many of the vendors selling fruit with a disinterested look.

"Must be Rainbow's friend" I thought and it seemed that despite the differences in stature she looked like Niles except with a white head and a hairstyle which said "I'm not interested in you now move"!

"It must be later in the day than I thought" I thought as I saw her pass on by. I was going to go over to her and introduce myself when I was suddenly pounced on and dragged to the side by only one possible pony with the sugary strength required to drag my full weight at maximum speed.

"Pinke Pie what did you dither for?" I asked the slightly insane pink pony but she put a hoof over my muzzle and whispered "shhh I'm watching Gilda" before grabbing my head and pointing my head in the direction of the Griffon which I guessed was Gilda.

"Ok so you're watching Rainbow Dash's friends now are this to do with some kind of prank or something?" I asked without thinking about who I was talking to. Pinkie turned to me and very quietly but quickly explained "WellyouseeitwaslikemeandRainbowwereprankijgandthe nGildashowedupandiwasliketotsllyfinewithhergoingof fwithRainbkwDashbuthenshelikewastotallymesntomesot heniwaslikereallyreallyannoyedsoiaskedTwilightforh elpandshesaidiwasjustjealoussothenifeltbadandgotam ilkshakebuthensawGildaandshescaredGrannySmithsndju ststoleoneofheshineiestappleseverandnowshe'sheadin gforFluttershy!

My senses were overloaded by the onslaught of jumbled words which Pinkie uttered but I got the just that the Griffon was simply acting in an annoying way although funnily enough it sounded like the type of behaviour I'd usually exhibit.

"Stealing, cruel pranks and tricks the only thing missing is tricking somepony or possibly having a fight in a bar depending on the mood" I thought as I watched the Griffon strut along the street like she owned it.

However when she got to Fluttershy it all changed. Fluttershy was doing one of her cute animal things and leading a duck through town probably to the river by the bridge and was walking backwards towards Gilda. Gilda could have obviously stepped aside but no she kept walking on and of course Fluttershy bumped into her accidentally.

"Surely she wouldn't" I thought but then I remembered what I would act like if I were strutting down the street and not worried about acting casual like a normal pony. Gilda turned to Fluttershy and I could hear her shout from across the street "Hey watch it, I'm walking here!" Boost Fluttershy in fear and absolute terror (which was like worse than fear) stumbled back causing the duck and her chicks to flap away.

"I-I-I'm so sorry" she quietly apologised but Gilda wasn't done and forced her back with large steps and yelled "Why don't you watch where you're going" almost tauntingly whilst Fluttershy stammered "I-I" and stepped back on shaking legs.

Then with a huge intake of breath Gilda gave one of the typically loud roars of the lion part of a Griffon which I'd experienced first-hand thanks to Niles and Fluttershy was almost blasted back by the sheer volume of it and with the tears spilling over she ran from the market crying loudly with her hair over her face. Gilda then turned to everypony around her and said something before taking off quite fast, as fast if not faster than Niles.

"Wow" I muttered to myself whilst Pinkie took this as an almost personal insult and in outrage said "She's a grump and a thief and a bully, the meanest of the meanie pants there is. I can take it but nopony... nopony treats Fluttershy like that nopony. This calls for extreme measures Pinkie Pie style" said Pinkie narrowing her eyes dangerously and trotting away from me and her unfinished milkshake.

"Ok I'm going home" I said quickly and strode away from the cafe. I had multiple questions whirling around like a destructive tornado in my head. "If Gilda was everything Pinkie had described then... what did that make me?

I had done all those things so much, I mean it wasn't like it was evil it was just bad. I mean I wasn't a bad, bad pony I was just trying to have a laugh. However when I thought back to everything I'd ever done. I could list off so many things where I'd ruined somepony's day or business or life and not cared, just laughed and walked on.

I'd stolen trinkets, statues, gold, gems, relics and one time a pony although I hadn't known he'd been hiding in the trunk so it didn't count as kidnapping.

Me and Niles had played around on other pony's houses, stalls, stores and even sometimes we dragged someone in as we stupidly dared each other to push the line further.

The worst was probably the way we strutted just like Gilda with arrogant confidence and almost disdain for everypony else. I had shouted, insulted, hit and sneered at so many ponies before and now with just honking of it I was almost surprised by myself.

Even this afternoon I'd ruined the lives of thirty schools children and then to make it all right I'd drugged them so they'd forget! That wasn't right that was just sick.

"But it was all so fun" I reminded myself as I itched my neck where my amulet should be. "Why was I feeling these things recently? Guilt and reluctance to do things like steal weren't my style at all in fact it sounded like some kind of other Dawn completely. "I need my amulet" I said without even thinking and suddenly I was almost running to get on home.

I didn't stop to talk to anypony as I rushed back and almost barged through he door at break neck speed. Lyra was in the lounge and was about to say hey but didn't the time as I bolted up the stairs without even acknowledging her.

I was so close and yet so far and suddenly I was really worried that it wouldn't be there. I burst into my room and practically launched my camera onto my bed and rifled for my amulet. It was covering the other stuff I didn't want ponies to find and was still just as beautiful and misty as ever.

I sighed in relief and ecstasy as I put it round my neck and pushed he jewel. "Ah" I sighed as I sank to the floor suddenly exhausted. It had been a long day but now I was fine any feeling I'd felt earlier dissipated in fact what was I even thinking of?

I didn't care I was just happy I was here with my amulet and without knowing it I had fallen asleep with a smile on my face not worrying about guilt or letters to Niles or even Twilight Sparkle. Just me and my Amulet.

However in my haste to get to my Amulet I hadn't considered things like the Lyra that would probably want an explanation. I snorted and opened my eyes. Taking off my Amulet and walking to the door to see not to my surprise Lyra slowly creeping her way towards my room.

Upon spotting me she asked "Dawn are you okay?" In a worried way and I angrily retorted "I'm fine now leave me be!" Before slamming my door and putting my amulet back on.

Why was everypony always such killjoys? I'd been minding my own business and Lyra just had to bother me. I was mad and no longer tired, instead now I wanted to punch somepony right in the face. Instead of that though I supposed that I could right out more of my report and work on my letter to Niles.

Sitting down at my desk I thought carefully before I began to write.

**Please...Please! Review! I'll do anything!**

**Ok kidding but one or two more reviews would really be appreciated not asking too much. I would like to thank all those who have already reviewed and kept **


	8. Treachery

**Treachery-The Tales of Niles**

I felt my head as it for the fourth time that night fell onto one of the multiple books on law and diplomacy and whatever else I had to study. If I'd thought learning the history of Griffon Law had been bad then learning the Equestrian one was worse as their kingdom had lasted for a thousand years whilst the Falcarian line a mere five hundred.

However I was determined and with his last book my four days of non-stop study would be complete and I could finally try for the job of a diplomat or whatever I really would n't mind as long as I never looked at another book for the rest of my life.

I realised it was past midnight and about the fourth day since my arrival. Yesterday I had sent a letter by train to be delivered to Dawn detailing what had happened and where I was. I wasn't sure where he was staying so I had to just put Dawn and hope that a pony in Ponyville knew him or could ask around.

However I had written the address of my hotel on the front of the envelope so expected a reply and to know everything about those mystery mare. I wanted this to take no more than one or two months already I wanted more adventure and jewels and I couldn't keep stealing a few of the best picks from these lame Jewellery stores with almost no security.

I wondered if Dawn was as bored as I was. Usually when we got bored we'd begin to mess around in the town, village or wherever we were staying and as usual either get kicked out or leave when it got boring pretending we were having fun.

Life just seemed really slow and right now my patience was wearing thin. "Maybe we could have gone back to Zebricia and bought lots of that magical black powder and blown the doors to the elements open with fire" I thought as my head once more dropped onto the huge book on my desk.

It was hard enough to get it through the door of he library but up to my hotel room on the sixteenth floor was just a nightmare. The hotel was of course luxurious and everypony was very good at sucking-up to me and especially when I gave them a bag with only a few thousand bits and told them to sort me out.

However although the room was luxurious I couldn't see it since it was buried under no less than a hundred books. I'd skimmed maybe a couple but the rest I'd read and tried very hard to imprint into my brain.

"Well if I fail this entry exam then at least I'll have something to tell the other inmates about in prison" I thought as I decided I'd studied enough and I should catch some sleep before I collapsed on top of my books.

I tiredly flapped my wings and landed on my bed and the second I hit the covers I was asleep. However in a mere seconds I awoke and it was bright daylight flooding past the towers of books and I realised I had slept all night and morning.

I was still tired but new energy and the desire to get this over with forced me into action. "I'll show that old man that I still got it" I told myself with a determined feeling in my chest.

I showered and skipped breakfast not feeling hungry and strode through the crowds of all he snobbish and rich aristocratic and business ponies that went about their daily business. I couldn't recall but I think that once Dawn had mentioned coming from Canterlot and that his parents kicked him out or something.

It was an interesting tale that I and Dawn had. We had met when we were both still children really and Dawn had told me about how he had outran a Princess and I had told him how I'd crashed an entire train (although it was a freight train so nopony was hurt) and eventually we decided that it would be a good idea to stick together until we reached the nearest town.

It was so long ago that it felt like a hundred years although it had been really about ten and we had done so much so fast in those ten years. "I'm sounding like some kind of old guy" I said to myself with a slap of my head "Stop Reminiscing Niles and focus on remembering... all the crap about law you had to learn".

Eventually the fancy and rich stores, hotels and apartments began to turn into a long selection of mansions which just got more and more luxurious as they went on. "I suppose these will be the owners of large companies and Ministers in the castle" I supposed as I went by.

I supposed that maybe Dawn had lived in one of these although I remember so living in a luxurious place with my fellow brothers. To be honest the news I'd received of them taking and running off with the family fortune wasn't surprising, they were always crooked bastard my brother and always greedy and whining about how they never had enough freedom.

I didn't even think about my parents as despite what I had said they ended up still being my parents and I was in a way feeling guilty.

However not guilty enough to apologise and even if I did Griffons were stubborn and could take even he littlest insult to heart and end up with a three hundred year vendetta. I would simply be wasting my time.

I stopped thinking and started concentrating on what I'd learned as I approached the gates to the castle with a smile on my face despite he stony look of he guards. I saw that they usually didn't take kindly to anyone. In fact they seemed almost completely like living statues just staring ahead without looking at me or maybe looking I wasn't so sure.

I approached the gate and gritting my teeth I asked "Err I'm here to see my Uncle he's a diplomat for the Griffon Kingdom a kind of fat old griffon malting feathers might like donuts"?

"Sorry Sergeant Sunshine I'll take it from here" came the voice of none other than my dearest uncle who hopefully hadn't been standing behind me for the duration of my cruelly accurate description.

"Oh hello Uncle I am here to take my little test" I said trying to sound respectful but unable to suppress a grin. He scowled at me and asked "You sure you learned everything? Took me weeks to learn it all by heart you know boy" he said gruffly and I just chuckled and replied "Well Uncle I'm just too clever for my own good".

He grunted and roughly grabbed me by my fore-leg and dragged me through the gate that Sergeant Sunshine had let me through. It was quite painful but I wasn't about to protest anything when I was already on a dangerously thin line.

He was mad which was understandable but when he dragged me to the gardens he fumed "It you're trying to upset me then you are doing a good job!" With an annoying smack over the head received by me.

"Maybe if you lightened up a little then I would respect your authority more" I grumbled but only got another smack over the head.

"Do you know what our job is boy? We aren't cheerful we represent our country through good and bad times and we oversee the signing of important treaties and on occasions sign the smaller ones ourselves, Diplomatic niceties are tediously boring and long and require that no loop holes or overlooks which can harm our country are in place which means we must suck up but also receive a large quantity of sucking up to us and never ever lose our cools"!

I was of course listening but then a really pretty butterfly went by and I didn't catch the last bit. "Uh-huh, yeah so can I get the test like right now"?

He groaned and replied "Yes, you are lucky you didn't come yesterday as it was hard convincing the foreign minister to sign your pardon, he was a friend of our family before it practically disintegrated and a large supporter of the king but had I not sent back the crown and those gems I honk he might have had you kidnapped and smuggled back home" explained my Uncle.

I gulped, why was politics oh so dirty?! My Uncle saw my worried features and explained "Do not fear they have pardoned your crimes here are your documents" he handed over a small file and explained "Also you are going to be issued with a new thing we call a passport which we are needing to control the amount of Griffon's fleeing into Equestria from the hunger of the Kingdom".

He seemed saddened when he explained "Although Equestria will usually open its doors to anyone struggling it was the king who made the decision to ban travel to other countries without a permit.

Celestia agreed with this despite the problems of our country but also she knows the number of Griffons would soar and soon Equestria would also face hunger" explained my Uncle and I actually took interest and asked "Why is here hunger, I recall rich farmland with so much corn and berries that we gave surplus away practically"!

He nodded grimly and replied "That all changed years ago when suddenly the corn crops failed.

No griffon could have interpreted this and here was no back-up plan but we've gotten through rough winters before and always have stores of food but the warehouses store had all gone due to something called a parasprite infestation which are some kind of insects which have the ability to eat and eat and then split into two and four and six and so on until almost all our food was gone and we had a catastrophe on our hands" he said with his tone getting alarmingly quiet.

"Equestria lent the food it could spare but it was embarrassing the amount and weakened the view of the crown. Using his power King Falcarius was able to banish all the parasprites but he was somehow weakened by the use of magic and now he is dying and you know the rest" my Uncle grimly finished in his eyes turning from that of anger to tiredness.

"I never knew our people were suffering so much" I said actually feeling bad for he old man. I wasn't usually so caring but so many Griffons in trouble made for a little bit of rare worry.

"Ok well let's see if I can organise a treaty to help" I said and my Uncle chuckled "You think you can help then try but there is nothing more we can do except wait for the inevitable" he said which confused me. Seeing the confusion on my face he promised "I'll explain later" before leading me through the gardens across a courtyard and into the main gates of the castle.

He didn't strut like I did by stride purposefully into the case and across the red carpets, nodding to the guards as he went. I gaped at all he painting and shiny suits of armour and vases and at the identical looking green doors everywhere.

My Uncle sighed and pausing he turned and dangerously told me "Don't touch anything" before striding on with me swaggering lazily behind.

All these rugs and things were neat but there was no real beauty here except the elements which I had to find upstairs somewhere and eventually find a way to create a distraction big enough to get Dawn and the princess's student up to the vault and then Dawn could do a dissipating act and nopony would be the wiser.

"We have reached the doors to the embassy, you will try and stop lounging about when you walk through hear doors and show the highest respect to the guards and the other ambassadors, consulates and diplomats" he ordered, startling me out of my train of thought.

I straightened my posture slightly and tried to look really important before he opened the door and led me through. "You are now in Griffon territory" he said like hat was a big thing and looking around it really wasn't.

The main lobby was really big but more like a dumping ground as every corner and wall was filled with Griffons standing or sitting up against it with defeated looks and tons of baggage.

"Most here have no passport but can't be sent back yet due to problems with containing Griffon's in the ports and he skies, they've even called all the Wonderbolts hey can on sky patrol duty and they are beginning to star garrisoning the big cities with ports like Fillydelphia and Manehatten, an endless stream of immigrants are trying to push through wherever they can and we can barely find the money to send them all back" he explained as he nodded to a Griffon guard holding a spear who nodded back in acknowledgement.

"What of the Kingdom I mean it can't be *this bad* I said gesturing to the crowds of homeless immigrants.

My Uncle grabbed me and yelled "Don't you get it our country has no too! No food means money is worthless and our economy crashes, paying our soldiers in coin is worthless, paying our farmers is worthless and the common Griffon being paid is twice as worthless we're on the brink of losing it all"!

I looked around to see if somepony was watching us but they all just kept looking down with sad features and actually they a looked quite scrawny now that I saw it.

"Follow me to my office" my Uncle told me and I did so, being led up a large staircase and down a mare hallway with tons of documents and paperwork stacked as high as the outrageously high ceiling.

I followed him into his office where he immediately kicked over some papers and went to a liqueur cabinet in the corner. Pouring a very, very thick and red drink for himself he downed it all in one before telling me "I am your Uncle and despite what you've done you are family" he paused to hiccup and sat down on a ruined cushion before continuing "Every job was filled here a few months ago and with the recent influx of immigrants any other Griffon we could make an excuse for has taken up all the jobs we can think of but you are lucky because I need a Griffon like you"!

I didn't know whether to be suspicious or touched but I chose suspicious. If he needed me then the situation must be desperate and this probably involved danger which although fun if not in relation to shiny things was a complete waste of time.

"You wanted to serve your country well our time of need had come and to be honest everything I said earlier was sugar coating it the Government obviously want control, the King's idiotic sons want control and the people want food and they will blame the King and maybe the Government and then we have rebellion on our talons" he said standing up.

"In retaliation of the destabilization of leadership Equestria our long standing ally sees us as a threat and prepares for war and I have proof, swords once a thing of the past are beginning to slowly be produced in secret locations throughout Equestria and the guard are bolstering their ranks, this country has seen peace for over a thousand years and now our country is threatening to destabilise the whole era and create a possible war which will devastate both sides and probably cause the assimilation of the Kingdom of the Griffons into the Kingdom of Equestria"!

I was quite confused by all this and asked "So why do you need me to be all diplomatic and stuff cause the way I hear it I am the only Griffon for the job" I said and my Uncle growled and explained.

"I am the envoy for the King and speak on his behalf but messages aren't enough anymore and we believe they are being falsely sent by his sons in a bid to keep us in the dark and change what they want, I've already received five letters demanding he closure of the embassy and fear that if something is not done soon then another envoy will be sent to express these wishes and have me arrested and the Embassy closed" he explained sitting down in defeat.

I'm old boy and cannot go back to the Kingdom, it is inevitable that it will fall unless something is done so I have turned to somepony else to assist us in our hour of need" he said almost in shame and I had to hold he presses right there before it got out of talon.

I stammered "Whoa now you want me to save the day, come on Uncle I was a thief not a hero" I said but he nodded his head and said "Exactly you were a thief and you know how to get around quietly and how to traverse long distances without much detection well you wanted a job to serve your country and you will do it"!

I gulped, I really didn't like where this was going. "Princess Celestia doesn't wish to leave her capital to help as it may unbalance everything as it is.

However a more willing soul is her younger sister who believes that she can utilise the power of the moon to help revive the King and hopefully help settle the quelling siblings and rebellious government" he explained with hope in his eyes.

I was clueless to what I was supposed to help with and asked "What are you talking about? What does this have to do with me? He grinned and explained "Oh nephew, you are going to help the Princess get into the Kingdom and then escort her to the palace and make sure she gets back safely".

Ok things were getting out of control now. Alarm bells for myself preservation went up. I was here to steal the elements and didn't need this not a revolution laced hell-hole of a home, not being a bodyguard to a Princess and not being trapped on the losing side of things.

"Sorry Uncle" I said sweetly while standing up "But I wanted a nice cushy job and to retire not to go gallivanting around a place I never want to see again with some prissy Princess"! I went to leave and heard my Uncle say "I know" before I felt and agonising electrical shock spasm throughout my body and a metallic object dug itself painfully onto my back right between my wings.

I gasped and yelled "What the hay did you do to me" before turning around to see my back had a small blue box with spikes dug quite deep into me. Thy bled slightly but the blue electrical energy seemed to seal them up. "This little artefact will make sure that you stick to whoever has the other like glue, well not glue but if one tries to run away from the other then boom and little bits and pieces of the both of you go everywhere" he said with a grin.

I blinked and made a grab for it but he pressed into the box he held and I felt a spasm as electrical shocks wracked my body. "Also I can do that" he said laughing. "You bastard" I shouted and tried to get up to leave but again I felt more of the shocks as they wracked my body.

"It takes a few hours before the box gets used to you, which is why it is so sensitive and can harm you but trying to move too fast and even a metre away from the box is agonising and in some instances will kill you" he said and I grimaced and asked "I thought we were family, I gave you back the crest and the crown so why do this"?

He looked at me coldly and asked "Did you really think I took your little facade for a second? You came here to steal riches and I saw that and saw that you actually did have potential so I sent you on a useless learning trip for a few days at he least whilst I made a plan with the Princess's.

Celestia disliked he idea most but Luna leapt at the chance of leaving and after a day or two of arguing agreed to go even knowing the risk" he said and I asked "What you mean me running away and killing us both"?

My Uncle laughed and said "No you love yourself too much to kill yourself even to spite me. No the bandits, rebels and other things which may happen is what worried Celestia".

I couldn't believe it. The situation once going my way was all a lie and now my life was practically in my Uncle's talons and now I had no choice but to submit to this very not little danger errand. "What will Dawn do? Will he come after me or not even know I'm gone before it's too late?

My Uncle could see the look on my face and said "Chin up, you wanted to we've well here you go you silly little eaglet". I tried to move again but another shock wracked my body and I collapsed in defeat.

My last thoughts as my vision faded to black was "Dawn if you are drinking tea with some fancy mare right now I will kill you" before I thought no more.

**I didn't even see this coming... Literally I just began writing and then KABLAM it went that way. Ok well review and thanks everyone for reviews and if there are any terribly bog mistakes then review about it or PM me. :)**


	9. Disipearing Act

**Disappearing Act**

I awoke to see I'd fallen asleep at my desk with my amulet still around my neck and still invisible. I had finished compiling more of my report and now had a good seventy pages of information and I believed in my opinion almost everything I needed to identify with Twilight Sparkle.

I had also finished Niles's letter about my situation and what I thought of the princesses.

But still I needed her background and more on the little purple dragon which I didn't trust for one instance. I wasn't feeling guilty or soppy like yesterday and in fact had no idea what got into me in the first place.

I had my shower and did my normal routine but this time found both Lyra and Bon Bon down at the breakfast table. "Hello girls" I said charmingly with a smile. They waved to me as I came over and both said hello.

"You all right Dawn, you seemed a little angry yesterday and I thought I'd done something wrong?" Asked Lyra and I replied "Oh I was just feeling a little under the weather, all fine now though and raring to go out and explore Ponyville and swing by the library and pick up hat library card which I was promised" I said drinking some per-made morning coffee.

Despite how good I was feeling I was beginning to develop a headache and was quite eager to be on my way so I asked "You two wanna meet up later like for lunch or something" they both looked at each other and sheepishly shook their head stating "Sorry but we kind of already have plans.

I wasn't in any way bothered as I'd only done it to try and sound nice and replied "That's ok I'll probably be working on finding a house which I can buy for myself, Ponyville although has its small imperfections is a really nice town and I'd love to love here" I said putting on a warm smile.

Bon Bon and Lyra smiled as I went out but then a thought occurred to me and I decided to get more of my camera film developed and take some more important pictures.

So I went back to my room to retrieve my camera and put a saddlebag on my back, however I was met by the desire to take my amulet. "This is a bad idea" I thought but the. Again what harm would it do? It was going to stay in my Saddlebag and besides Everypony had probably forgotten about that ghost pony that could vanish anyway.

I picked it up and put it in and headed back down to leave. I shouted a goodbye to the girls and shut the door before rubbing my hooves together and deciding to steal something on a whim of the moment.

However the rather annoying voice in my brain had other ideas and I decided instead of being bad and gorgeous I'd have to go get the film developed and just put up with being gorgeous.

So I sighed and trotted in the direction of the photography shop. Nopony was out his early but a few windows were open. As usual is was sunny and annoying hot and I wondered if the Pegasi were trying to burn us all and take Equestria for themselves... It felt like that was the plan with the scorching heat and all.

I stopped off and dropped the film off to be developed but due to the back log of film they told me it would be hours before I could pick up the pictures. So with nothing else to do I decided to head for the library and pick up the damn library card I'd been promised.

I was feeling like picking a fight to day for some reason and couldn't quite put my hoof on why my mood was quickly souring.

However I didn't focus too much on it and instead almost charged into the library of Twilight Sparkle and demanded my library card. Well when I say charged I politely knocked.

I knocked four times on the red door with the big candle on it and waited impatiently for Twilight to open up. It never occurred to me that maybe she was sleeping as it was still early but all doubt dissipated when her little assistant opened the door and stepped out.

Of course I'd seen Spike and even drugged him (cause drugging things is my way of dealing with stuff) although this was supposed to be my first time meeting him so I acted surprised and said "Hi... are you a dragon"? His face neutral and first took on a dull look like he'd heard that phrase a hundred times before and he responded "Yes I'm a dragon, I suppose you want to see Twilight about a book"?

I shook my head and said "No I came here for a library card I was promised, forgot to ask for it. May I come in" I said all politely although I really just wanted to poke the dragon and see how tough his skin was as I recall the last dragon I'd poked had tough skin but fragile teeth.

"Yeah sure, Twilight is just finishing up her magic tricks so I suppose you could come watch" he said becoming enthusiastic and gesturing for me to come inside.

The place looked as neat as ever and I could see along the old oak shelves that all the books were catalogued and in most cases colour coded per section. Every book seemed to be well taken care of and looking to the side there was a door which led to the room with some more books and the place in which it looked like Twilight was studying.

There was a board with a list of different things on and one or two books were open on the podiums dotted around the place. Twilight was totally focused on whatever current task she was doing and her face was buried in a book.

Her face was completely unreadable as she scanned the pages and after about thirty seconds the page was magically turned with her magic and she kept reading happily away.

I had always envied the Unicorns with their ability to levitate object small and large. Some could only pick up the tiniest of things like a bottle of a box but stronger magic wielded could pick up large and heavy rocks or levitate things over long distances.

Then again I was envious of the Pegasi that could soar through the air and similarly some could fly faster than a speeding bullet and some could hardly get off the ground by themselves. But still flying was so amazing and I had always in a way envied Niles for being able to move quickly from one place to another without takin an hour to walk there and of course looking cool all the way.

"Earth Ponies suck" I thought as Twilight carried on happily in her own studious world or books and... more books.

Spike nudged past me and asked "Twilight are you seriously giving up with the trick already"? Twilight huffed and without turning replied "Oh Spike I'm tired lets just do those later I really have to finish these for the Princess".

She sighed and gave a stubborn look at Spike but Spike's eyes seemed to corrode any stubbornness and she sighed "Fine but only one and if this time it doesn't work then I'm not doing this again" she warned.

"Come on Twilight" encouraged Spike and she exhaled before breathing in deeply and flaring her magic into life. It was fascinating watching the different colours of magic swirl around her horn and then I viewed Spikes muzzle glowing and suddenly to my complete amazement a moustache randomly sprouted from it all bushy and groomed.

I was lost for words and could only think how random that had been. "You did it Twilight!" exclaimed Spike in glee, obviously elated to have such a manly moustache. "That's over twenty-five different magical tricks you can now perform" he said marking a tick on a board next to the words "Spontaneous Moustache".

I personally was still in awe and Twilight was blushing furiously but I quickly stopped my jaw from gaping and clapped my hooves together. "Well done Twilight that was so incredible" I said actually genuinely stunned at what I had witnessed.

Twilight was even more embarrassed and surprised when I exclaimed "Amazing" and she looked round to see me standing there in worshiping awe time.

Twilight's blush deepened as I praised "Twenty-five tricks is incredible, I thought that Unicorns didn't go far beyond levitation and stuff". She was still blushing and began to slowly twirl her hoof on the ground in an embarrassed motion.

A strange silence descended as I tried to think of a witty and charming thing to say but thankfully the little dragon assistant Spike broke through the silence with the offer "Did you mention something about a library card mister"?

"Hmm" I murmured before coming to my senses and stumbling out "Oh err yeah, sorry Twilight but I never got that library card you asked for so I like came to get it and your assistant let me in and he's a dragon which is pretty cool".

Not the smoothest approach but Spike certainly got the message that Twilight and I had met before and asked "Wait are you that pony Twilight blamed about that trophy and who she talks about all the time"? I nodded but Twilight came over furiously shaking her head and stammered furiously "Spike I do not talk about him all the time now go and get the library cards from upstairs"!

Spike was confused as to what he had done wrong but he didn't protest but instead gave a huge sigh and plodded away with his moustache hanging low.

I decided to ignore the slightly awkward moment and apologised "Sorry Twilight. Perhaps It would have been better coming by not so early and waiting in the main room".

She corrected her mane and batted the idea away saying "No, no don't be silly you can come by any time Dawn it's just that I'm not really used to an audience watching me perform my little magic tricks".

She still seemed embarrassed so I reassured her "I don't think many ponies can simply make hair sprout forth from a dragon which would take a grown pony a few years to grow, what you did was amazing and I'd pay money to see it".

She seemed to decrease in shyness and increase in confidence and asked "So you just came for the library card"? The way she said it and the fact she had just said surprised me and I widened my eyes a little and nervously tried to formulate words to respond

However she hadn't meant anything by it and quickly realised her mistake in wording and corrected "I mean did you want any books! You uh-uh might want some books to take back with you with your library card I just umm I am a going to just go check on Spike" she said quickly and then proceeding to almost run out of the room.

To be honest I was very grateful that she had decided to leave the room as I was beginning to despite all my... Experience with mares blush and didn't for one of the first times in my life have he foggiest idea what to say to her.

"Play it cool Dawn, you don't have to be her friend you just need some dirt on her or something which will convince her to open the vault" I said reminding myself of my true mission here although it pained me to do so.

I heard a small crash and the faint voice of Spike stammering "Wait, just a little longer" before there was a bright flash of magenta light and a sad sigh echoed all the way through to the study.

I peeked through to see the deflated Spike hang his shoulders in defeat with no moustache and Twilight with a rather cute smile on her face as she levitated my library card over to me.

"Any other names other than Dawn?" she asked me. I considered giving her my full name but then the possibility of her remembering all those years ago would just be too great so I stuck with Dawn.

She seemed to use her magic to press my name onto the small plastic card and then using ink she stamped it hard and my name appeared along with a bunch of things explaining it was a genuine library card.

Quite clever since she had no clear printing press and I had to also congratulate her on her ingenuity. It was almost sad the thought that I was in a way going to rob and humiliate her in a month or two.

"Don't think about the future but focus on the present" I told myself and went about instead trying to strike up another conversation with her. "Have you given out many library cards yet"?

She smiled sheepishly and replied "Well just seven" and when I thought about it that meant herself and all her friends but then there was me. "Was I her friend"?

Certain feeling tried to make me spill over and ask her straight up but I stopped these from embarrassing me and simply decided "It she were your friend then you wouldn't want to rob her and humiliate her.

However this posed a new question for my conscious and I asked myself "Did I really wish to rob her"? I didn't like what I thought the answer would be and began to breathe heavily whilst my neck itched like mad and I was positive a purple rash must have been forming there.

The amulet inside my saddlebag yearned for me to place it on and dissipate along with all my troubles but I had deny myst and awkwardly say "Thank you Twilight but I really have to go now, I have had a long day and am very tired" before turning to leave to the confusion of Spike and Twilight.

"But it's still morning" Twilight responded and I replied "Yeah well late night, bye" before quickly and jerkily walking out the door in haste. When the door was shut I ran for it and before long began to feel an aching and horrible feeling in my heart.

I couldn't make it home I decided and ducked into an alleyway. Hiding behind large dumpster I checked there was nopony near before I quickly fumbled with the straps on my saddlebag.

I dropped my amulet and it made a light tinkle as it skidded across the messy floor. I shakily grabbed it and held it up to make sure it wasn't damaged.

I was feeling terrible and didn't know why but I had, had these feelings in the past after doing bad things and knew that as soon as I got my amulet around my neck the feeling would dissipate, somehow healed by its magic and when thinking when thinking about it I wondered if it was another magical property of the amulet.

Whenever I experienced bad emotions the amulet seemed to help make them go away and I was no doctor but I constituted this as being a cure. So I quickly put the amulet round my neck and sighed in relief as I felt the thin veil of magic wash over me as I turned invisible.

I lay back against the dumpster and completely let go. No worries or anything just a feeling of great ecstasy as if I was floating through the air.

At least I thought I was for a few moments when suddenly I heard a noise begin to ring in my ear and opened my eyes which I hadn't even realised I'd closed.

I stood up and saw the sun was very high now and it was mid-afternoon I had missed quite a few hours of the day. I felt so much better now and took the amulet off, switching it off to make sure I didn't stay invisible and placing it back in my saddlebag.

"Note to self try not pass out" I thought groggily as I shook my mane and rubbed sleep from my eyes. I tried to remember what I had wanted to do but for the life of me couldn't remember.

"Photographs and the post office" I told myself when I remembered, deciding to finish my errands and hopefully see Twilight again and make up an excuse for running away quickly.

I paused and with a frown asked "Why would I want to see Twilight again"? Then again she was very talented but now that I thought about it just so uncool, a real egghead why do I need to give her an excuse?" I thought starting to move again, going towards the town square and the photography store.

I was however distracted by a large crowd of ponies and although I had better things to do than follow large crowds around and bleat like a sheep I was distracted when I saw Twilight in the crowd.

I slowly began to push my way past to get closer to her and soon I was almost behind her. "Oh hi Dawn" said a voice and I looked round to see Lyra standing there looking at me.

"Hi Lyra, sorry but what is going on" I asked a little bit annoyed that she had seen me when I wasn't in the mood to speak to anypony.

However appearances were very important so I kept a certain level of charm in my voice.

"Oh it's some magical performer who travels around from city to city performing" she answered and I nodded and watched as suddenly something happened and the stage erupted with little fireworks and other small lights and spinning sculptures and suddenly in a flash if smoke there was a pony who was a light blue with an ice blue mane and a quite funny wizard hat and done full of stars all over it who stood quite confidently and almost as if she were a queen.

"Oh this will be good" I muttered as I watched along with everypony else. Twilight seemed curious along with her friends all of which were standing there apart from Pinkie and Fluttershy and the crowd seemed to in no way see that from the start this was going to be a cheap production of party tricks meant to wow the common earth pony.

"Witness and be amazed by the great and powerful Trixie! The most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria and your better" she announced for everypony to hear. I waited for the snickers, the jeers and laughter but it never came and instead there were a number of oohs from the crowd which also included Lyra.

"Watch in awe as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!" She announced with more explosions and fire crackers going off around her.

However not everypony was an idiot and the four of the mane six present could easily tell that this Unicorn as her name went was a trickster and from what I could overhear was just boasting away about nothing.

I was about to walk away and stop listening in but Twilight didn't seem to be saying anything whilst her friends were talking away so I decided to get in a little closer. Spike was there as well and he was complaining "Come on Twilight can do way better than her" but suddenly a zip appeared where his mouth should be and closed up.

I imagined that would hurt and was actually a little grossed-out by it but then Spike opened it up and asked "What you could take her Twilight"?! However Twilight seemed nervous and unwilling to play the hero and step up which supposed me as her magic was obviously way superior from what I'd seen.

She took Spike aside for a second and whispered something into his ear that I couldn't hear before pushing him back to the front next to two small colts I recognised from he school. It was that annoying fat one and the dimwit tall one who seemed to be in awe at this show pony and thankfully enough seemed to have completely forgotten my little story from a few days ago.

Well Snails still seemed to have a twitching eye every few seconds but I didn't think it would be much of a problem. "How do children fall for such corny acts" I thought but in the end I knew that it probably looked amazing to the colts what with the little fireworks and mini light shows.

"Sweet Celestia she is such a boaster" criticised Rarity and Twilight asked "There's nothing wrong with a unicorn whose talented is there?" to which Applejack responded "Course not but the way she goes off showing it is despicable" Rarity then added "Just because one has the ability to perform lots of magic doesn't make

However the rest of the crowd and the girls were getting a bad to worse vibes which intensified when Trixie challenged "It seems we have some neighsayers in the audience. Who challenges the magical ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie? Do they not know that they're in the presence of the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria?

Wow I liked to brag and boast as well but she was a new level entirely and I liked it though Twilight seemed to be getting quieter and quieter by the second as we watched on.

"This is just ridiculous" Rarity huffed and Rainbow Dash who'd been hovering above and occasionally putting in witty comments asked "So Great and Powerful Trixie what makes you so awesome and powerful?" in a jeering tone.

Trixie drew herself back across the tiny stage of the caravan/stage hybrid she was on and like a well performed play yelled "It was only the Great and Powerful Trixie who could vanquish he terrible and dreaded Ursa Major"!

The were a collection of gasps from the crowd and I snorted in laughter. Oh this mare was good but she was putting it on so thick that I could spread her lies onto bread as if it were butter.

"The ponies of Hoofington were helpless when the Ursa attacked but the great and powerful Trixie with her powerful magic vanquished the beat back into a cave deep within the Everfree forest"!

"Seriously" I thought and now could see that some the crowd were beginning to wake up a little but then some of them seemed to be eating up her stories which sounded as real as the magical feats Trixie had performed so far.

The smoke was something Niles had used many times to have a chance to slip away whilst it was obsolete to my Amulet. Then the fireworks and light show pretty much had no magic in them and only required basic magic to set them off. All her magic was a trick.

Snips and Snails were convinced that he spirits of our ancestors had blessed us with Trixie and that she was the most powerful and talented Unicorn in the whole of Equesrtia. Kids were dumb but even I wasn't that dumb when I was a colt.

Spike also had something to say and voiced his opinion "How do we know she isn't just making it up? Were you guys there to we her?" He asked Snips and Snails. Of course they were left unsure but not when Trixie yelled "Don't believe the Great and Powerful Trixie? Well then, I hereby challenge you, Ponyvillians. Anything you can do, I can do better" with a sneer practically dripping from her voice.

Of course nopony in the crowd was willing to take her offer and she laid it on thick asking "Any takers? Anyone? Hmm? Or is Trixie destined to be the greatest equine who has ever lived!?

I had a few neat tricks I could do. Pick pocketing, lock picking, grapple hooking, gymnastics and many more in the thievery category although my type of tricks might raise a few questions as to how I had learned them and so I decided it best to watch on despite a slight disappointment that I couldn't put this filly in her place by showing the crowd how I could just disappear into thin air.

However Twilight although seemingly shy was still witty and many ponies had seen my amulet which made it dangerous to show and maybe she'd connect me to the ghost pony she had briefly encountered barely four days ago but what seemed to me like a week.

However Trixie was scanning over the crowd and seemed to hone in on Twilight and asked mockingly "How about you"!? Twilight for some obscure reason just looked nervous and began to back away but Trixie continued "Well little Hayseed how about it?" and I realised she must be speaking to Applejack, the pony next to Twilight.

Other than he powers of sleep and the incredible strength with her back legs I had no idea if Applejack had any other skills. However she took to the challenge due to the little insult and yelled for he crowd to here "That does it" in her outraged southern accent and asked "Well then Great and powerful Trixie can you do his" she said retrieving a rope from under her hat.

I knew she could tie a lasso but I never knew her rope skills were so extensive. Better than mine and Niles's put together she began to twirl the rope around her head using her tail and began leaping through the rope which rapidly changed sizes and then after a few minutes lash out with the rope to a nearby apple tree where the rope wrapped around the apple and then with a tug she brought it back into her open mouth where she instantly crunched in one bite in a split second before stating "How about that" to which everypony clapped and cheered in recognition of her skill.

I was clapping but also worried a bit, this skill could easily be used against me so it was a good thing I'd turned up here. However though I was worried I was still amazed and feeling something else as well. I wasn't sure but I think it might have been pride. But that would be absurd! Wouldn't it? I mean I couldn't actually be proud to know this mare just because she was a star rope expert I was only proud of number one... Me.

"Oh ye of little talent. Watch and be amazed at the magical powers of the great Trixie!" And on that once more boastful note Trixie grabbed the rope with her powers and began to levitate slowly in the air like a snake charmer would a snake.

The crowd looked on amazed as Applejack seems ego become enchanted by the rope and failed to notice the rest of rope creeping up behind her until it was too late and she was in a flash tied up, on her back and an apple in her mouth.

The crowd cheered Trixie as she exclaimed "The great and powerful Trixie once more prevails"!

However all the attention on Trixie seemed to be making Rainbow Dash annoyed so she stepped up to the challenge accusing "Hey just because your talented doesn't mean you have to go strutting your stuff and showing off" with the typical tomboyish attitude that made her different from most mares.

Trixie didn't seem impressed by the statement she was making and after a few seconds for the crowd to calm down asked "Oh, so you think you can perform an act better than the Great and Powerful Trixie"?

Rainbow Dash's wings stirred and she laughed and replied "I don't think I can, I know I can" before she proceeded to vanish from sight leaving only an imprint of where she had been. Everypony including me looked to the skies as a streak of Rainbow shot through the air and vertically through three clouds before becoming a silhouette against he raging sun.

Then she shot back down through the clouds like a bullet and left a poof of dust as she landed on the stage and with a shake of her wet mane the vapour coming off her made an amazing small rainbow above her head which made me wide eyed.

The crowd exploded in applause and I couldn't help but join in. It was a magnificent trick which had certainly been awesome and I suppose you could say... dashing_(Get it! Like Rainbow and Dash and then dashing and dash and dashing are like oh wait I should be writing what am I doing trying to explain this joke... now for Trixie's reaction)._

"They don't call me Rainbow and Dash for nothing you know"'she smirked in a very cocky but cool manner which just rained awesomeness upon the crowd.

Trixie didn't seem fazed and jested "They'll be calling you

nothing but a loser when I'm finished with you" and she proceeded to somehow use the rainbow above Dash to wrap it around her before proceeding to make it spin her around very fast until she was nothing but a whirling rainbow tornado.

"I think I'm gonna be sick" Dash said weakly as the rainbow tornado wound down after only ten seconds and she came to a spinning stop in he floor. It was surprising that such a quick athlete like her

was reduced to heap of giddiness and she was further humiliated when Trixie summoned a tiny rain cloud and shot a bolt of lightning at her which made her screech "Ow!" which tipped he crowd over the edge and everypony began to laugh.

"Seems like any pony with a dash of sense would think twice before tussling with the Great and Powerful Trixie"! Announced Trixie much to my now displeasure. Although I thought it would have been funny to me watching Dash reduced to a dizzy heap and then electrified but instead something in me wanted to make sure she was ok and stop Trixie before she did worse to one of the girls.

"What we need is a unicorn to match her" suggested Spike looking unsurely at Twilight who was nervously looking from Rainbow Dash to Rarity. "Yeah a unicorn to show her who's boss" said Rainbow Dash staring daggers at Trixie and edging closer to Twilight. "A real unicorn to unicorn tussle" remarked Applejack with the same look and stepping closer to Twilight as well so that now she was cramped.

I did actually not want Twilight to get on the stage anymore but Rarity instead surprised everypony by answering "Enough. Enough, all of you. I take your hint, but Rarity is above such nonsense. Rainbow Dash and Applejack may behave like ruffians, but Rarity conducts herself with beauty and grace" in a very elegant voice that would make Canterlot proud.

"Ooo, what's the matter? Afraid you'll get a hair out of place in that rat's nest you call a mane?" Trixie answered quite rudely and more harshly than I would have handled the situation. Why am I comparing myself with this horrible mare" I thought as Rarity's face wen from elegant to furious.

"Oh, it is on! You may think you're tough with all of your so-called powers, but there's more to magic than your brutish ways. A unicorn needs to be more than just muscle. A unicorn needs to have style" she explained as she levitated over the curtains from Trixie's stage and in a matter of moments of skilful magic and craft she had created a stunning dress and amazing hairstyle.

She literally shone and I was distracts from what any other pony was saying for a brief few seconds until suddenly I there was a flash and somehow terrible happened.

Rarity seemed to realise as well as she exclaimed in a panicked tone "Quick, somepony get me a mirror! She did something to my hair what in Celestia did she do to my hair"!

"Nothing" replied Twilight briefly too amazed to be nervous. "Its fine" lied Rainbow who simply gazed up at the stage. "It's gorgeous" replied Applejack who was like Rainbow Dash transfixed by the sight everypony was stuck gaping at.

However the brief few moments of relief were dispelled when Spike missed the picture and stated flatly "It's green". Of course the effect was instantaneous and Rarity exclaimed "Not green hair! Anything but green, such an awful colour" before proceeding to gallop away from the stage in sobbing tears past a rather disgruntled mare with green hair who looked a little insulted.

I was feeling what I remembered feeling yesterday. The feeling of guilt as I knew that in the past I'd done worse than turn ponies' hair green but now this was different. Nopony simply hurt these girls and now it seemed Twilight had fallen into the front lines and might be up next.

Twilight was an excellent magician but in her current state I wasn't sure she could even talk. "Is there truly nopony else? What about you there?" Trixie said pointing at Twilight but before this could go further I pushed past everypony and yelled "Ok Trixie you've had your fun but you are in deep here, now go home before you are exposed as a fraud and an amateur"!

Everypony was shocked by my spontaneous outburst and primarily Twilight and he girls who'd previously had no idea I'd been there. "Dawn don't" pleaded Twilight but it was too late and I lifted myself onto the stage and stood defiantly before the annoying unicorn for the entire crowd to see.

"You have come to his town to show off your little party trick which I admit are entertaining but in this case you have taken this con too far and now I think it should be best if you leave this town and to bother somepony else!" I yelled for everypony to hear.

Trixie and the crowd were shocked but both recovered quickly and Trixie in anger demanded "You think you are tough coming on here and shouting down the most powerful unicorn in Equestria you little mud pony! What exactly do you do for a living"?!

"I" I was about to explain I ate danger for breakfast but remembered my backstory and replied "I bury ponies" which although sounded intimidating was easily guessed that I was using the cover of an undertaker. "Ha, you're an undertaker, that's no special talent so do you have any skills to back it up!?" asked Trixie.

This put me on the spot but the sudden itchiness and need around my neck told me how to solve the problem. I put my back to Trixie and the audience and put a hoof behind my back. Timing was everything here and I proposed "Ok Trixie, I am actually quite the magician myself and have a proposal for you if you're interested"?

Trixie scoffed and pointed out "You can't do magic you're a simple Earth Pony"! But I shrugged the insult off and looking deep into her eyes responded loudly "Oh I am anything but simple... so are you in"?

She hesitated a second but she really had complete faith in herself and replied surely "Whatever you can do I can do better". So now we were agreed there was no backing out and I set the rules "Ok so this is what happens, on the count of three from the audience we both disappear and no smoke or fireworks got it"!?

She didn't like the terms but guessed that I was as full of hot sir as she was and that I wouldn't be able to perform the trick so she agreed with a curt and dismissive nod.

I was worried but at the same time knew I was doing the right thing. After-all... nopony deserves green hair. However Trixie was so sure that I'd fail that she narrowed her eyes and actually looked like she was about to perform a spell of awesomeness.

I looked at the crowd and uttered "Ready" catching a glimpse of Twilight's worried eyes and the crowds anticipation of my failure. I was in the zone though and loving it and couldn't wait to see he shock on everypony's face... the questions could come later.

"Ready" replied Trixie and the crowd all began to chant down. "3..." and the stallions all looked up with anticipation "2..." and the mares fainted before anything "1..." Twilight looked up in hope as if she believed with only blind faith that I could do it.

Everypony waited a second after and nothing happened neither I nor Trixie moving. "Everypony groaned and hung their heads and probably imagined the embarrassment they believed I'd be feeling.

"Ha! I knew the Great and Powerful Trixie was he best, nopony can simply disappear"! I pretended to hang my head in shape before winking at the crowd and saying coolly "I suppose I'll take my leave" before proceeding to press the gem of my amulet and feel the magic wash over my body in but a second.

Everypony gasped and Trixie stammered "What! That-that's impossible! No! No!" and angrily beating her magicians hat against the floor.

Everypony was too stunned to speak or acknowledge Trixie's defeat but instead continued to gawk and suddenly an explosion of chatter erupted and everypony began to make there way to the front of the stage. I was invisible but not a ghost and quickly made my way behind the stage and away from the crowd.

I knew this would raise questions but a feeling came to me I hadn't felt before. Usually when I'd felt guilty I had worn the amulet and it had all gone away but now wearing it I didn't feel pleasure or like anypony's better but like something else, something I wasn't sure about.

I wondered how Twilight would react as well as Lyra and Bon Bon and the other elements but nopony had seen my amulet and believed me to simply be a good trickster,

I could deal with all this later but I felt tired out from all this excitement and decided it best to make my way along and finally deliver those letters and pick up the photographs, however this was certainly a fun experience and I hoped that I would be able to show off like this again although it may be difficult in the future.


	10. Slavery

**Slavery-The Tales of Niles**

I didn't like the circumstances I was in upon waking up. Then again I didn't like the circumstances I was in before. I got up slowly and was thankful that there was no electrical shock which attacked me but was quite displeased by the feeling of the box attached to my back.

I was in what appeared to be the worst possible cell they'd let me have in the bottom of Canterlot castle and what appeared to be both a Griffon and a Royal pony guard were guarding my cell both facing me and of course being stoic and not talking.

I ignored them for the time being and groggily stretched slowly not wanting any shocks or bad surprises. I examined the box. It was made of not steel but some other unfamiliar metal and a barely visible blue light shone around it and into me.

I looked around the inside and outside of my cell and found nothing but the standard dark, dingy and damp surrounding of any old prison cell I'd previously been in. However unlike last time Dawn would usually know that I'd been captured and have me out and shroud me with his invisible amulet.

However this time was different as there was no Dawn and the box meant I couldn't go very far without it shocking me or killing me if I was able to get further than a metre without feeling like an electrical pylon.

I looked around once more and eventually spotted inside a chest next to the guards was a faint blue glare and hanging my head I knew where the other little sick piece of this magical abomination was. "Damn you for eternity Uncle you betrayed me!" I cursed aloud and kicked the bars with my back legs.

It hurt… a lot. My paws were softer than the hooves of ponies and they barely made the strong reinforced bars shake. I wasn't going to give up on my options out yet however and turned to try having a little talk with my guards.

"Excuse me but I understand that I have been wrongly incarcerated and do believe that it would be most fruitful for the both of your careers if you let me out this once and I shall consider not reporting you to the Princess herself!" I angrily demanded in a voice which sounded snobbish and arrogant.

They both continued to give me the cold, hard stare of death and I changed tactics saying "Ok then my friends how about some bits. I am actually quite rich despite my current circumstances and can give you both enough bits so that you can retire and live the rest of your days happily without wanting for nothing" I attempted to bribe them.

Cold, hard stare of death continues. The guards and figures I'd bribed with Dawn in the past had usually been badly trained mere militia but even the guards from the time when we were robbing small towns in the Griffon Kingdom would fold for such money but it seemed the Embassy and the Royal Canterlot Guards were made of stronger and more moral stuff… how very unfortunately bleak my situation was becoming.

"Listen to me I… I have a family and they need bread" I choked out with emotion but still nothing seemed to be happening in the compassion department for these two so I gave up and looked for another way out of this mess.

I couldn't break out by force, bribery and trickery were completely out, and it was in dungeon so I couldn't climb out the window even if it didn't have any bars on it. So that left only one option which I prayed would be enough to convince the two steel gazers I was in need of help.

I began to pant and stammered "Please I-I can't breathe i-it's too cramped in here" and although they didn't move I thought I saw an eye flicker. I kept going and staggered around weakly before erupting into a fit of coughs. "Help me p-p-please" I begged through my coughing and with one particularly nasty hack I breathed in deep before collapsing onto my stomach and lying very still.

There was no sound except for the faint drip of some water somewhere far off. I had my eyes open and glazed but I wasn't facing my head towards them so had to rely on my ears. There was no sound for a minute and I kept my breathing very low and tried not to give anything away but I'd pulled this off once before so I was confident.

There was a little shuffling suddenly and one of them whispered "He's playing right?" to the other almost with no emotion in his voice. "Yeah he is… I think" said the other voice this one with some doubt and a little worry in it.

Nothing happened for a few more moments before the last voice I'd heard asked "S-Sir please get off of the prison floor this instant"! It wasn't an order but more of a request however I kept my guise up and stayed as still as possible. "This play acting is pathetic sir and we command you to get up this instant or else the repercussions will be serious!" demanded the very same guard.

More silence followed before one of them cursed "Dammit he's really down" and there was a tumbling and rattle as keys were rapidly retrieved and fitted into the lock of my cell. "Our orders were to stay put and watch him" said the other guard but the worried one replied frantically "Yes and right now I'm watching a priority prisoner die now help me out here"!

There was movement and they came into my cell and rolled me onto my back, painfully laying me on my wings. My glazed eyes remained the same and the pony who seemed more worried than the Griffon checked my pulse and breathed "he's alive" with relief evident in his voice. "He must have had some kind of panic attack or something, we need to get him to medical" said the Griffon guard and they propped me up and began to carry me out of the cell.

However as soon as I was on my feet I sprung away from them and kicked them both in the jaw. The yelled out and fell back against my cell as I ran out the door and locked the cell with the keys which were still in the door before taking them and stepping back.

"You… you son of a bitch you tricked us" yelled the pony angrily and he and the Griffon began shouting insults so foul I was glad to not still be in the cell with them. "It's been fun guys but I gotta Dash, places to go and jewels to steal" I said beginning to walk down the hallway of the dungeon jail.

That was when a slight tingling stirred through my body originating from my back. I looked back down the hallway and saw the chest glowing bluer and also my back as well. "Damn it" I cursed backpedalling and wrenching the box open. The guards continued to shout profanities as I examined the accused second part of the relic my damn Uncle had put on me.

It was identical to the one on my back and also glowed a light blue besides being a metal tinged blue; the light seemed to get stronger the further I moved away. I remembered that he had told me the further away I moved and eventually boom and little bits of Niles flew south for the winter.

"Damn it now what" I shouted and the two guards surprisingly shut up. I decided that I could figure out how to remove the box from my back later and for now grabbed the other one and made my way briskly back down the hallway of the dungeon.

"No elements are worth this hassle, I'll drop by and make sure my hotel can't trace me before heading to Ponyville to get Niles then we'll bail and find a way to get this nightmare off my back" I told myself laying out my future plans.

Although the future seemed to be full of positives it appeared that getting there would be harder than expected as upon slowly creeping through the door at the end of the hallway I was stunned when I emerged into a marble room with none other than the Princess of the sun, my damn Uncle and what I guessed was the Princess of the moon all looking at me.

I was grabbed by two guards who held me down before I could take flight and I dropped to the floor although I might have hit one in the face before more guards came from the sides and kept me restrained.

"You see your majesty my nephew is no better Griffon for the job he's stealthy, resourceful, knows the lay of the land and if he encounters any scumbags along the way he can simply blend in with the rest of them" praised my Uncle in a way a master would to his pet that had just jumped through a few hoola-hoops.

"What the b…" I began but a guard head-butted me and I was left hanging from the hooves of my captors. "He certainly is a rough fellow, I don't like the idea that my sister is going to be traveling with him for such a time" said Celestia but my Uncle defended "He's a common thief and mercenary but the relic on his back was created by some of the first of the Griffon Kings and he loves himself too much to have any kind of death-wish".

"I realised that everything, the cell and the guards was just a test to see if I was capable of handling situations like that. They relieved me of the other part of my trap and handed over to my Uncle who twirled it in his talons.

The Princesses were certainly different than I'd initially expected them to be. Celestia as Dawn had once described was tall and kind looking but with wisdom in her eyes and imagination flowing through her deep rainbow mane. However Luna was different in many ways. Where Celestia smiled Luna frowned and her stature was not one of authority but almost like she didn't want to be here as if she was uncomfortable with where she was. Also her man was a deep blue and flowed like her sisters but instead of imagination I saw something which in my opinion was better… Innovation".

However probably the best thing about her was the eyes she had. Her eyes were like galaxies and instead of wisdom held something else, something that almost made her dangerous. Other than that she was smaller than the Sun Princess and of course a deep, dark blue.

"My nephew knows what needs to be done and he'll do it if he wants to get that box off cause only the King himself holds the secrets of that magical artefact" explained my Uncle, snapping me back to the harsh reality that I was trapped in a web with nothing else to do but conform to this spiders wishes.

Celestia nodded to my Uncle and asked "They might not reach the King before you are removed from office, what then becomes of you"? The question seemed to really make my Uncle think and he replied "Your majesty I have served the Embassy for over thirty years and have come to know Equestria as my second home. However if I am removed I will be most likely be sent back to the Kingdom where I will likely be imprisoned and judging by the food situation and my age I-I might not survive" he finished with a little stammer at the end of his sentence.

Celestia's expression became stern and she offered "You have tried helping and keeping peace during these perilous times and I can hide you in Equestria if you so wish"?

But my Uncle simply shook his head and answered "I greatly appreciate what you are offering but harbouring me would only cause more problems which we don't need. I would much prefer that we continue to co-operate as two nations of prosperous wealth but I also if the Griffon Kingdom falls to the Government, the idiotic Princes or the Griffons themselves then war is almost inevitable eventually and if there is anything more heart-breaking than seeing my country torn apart it would be seeing this one too" he finished tearfully.

I could see that everypony in the room felt deep sadness and respect towards my Uncle and maybe I would have too had he not shoved an electrical bomb onto my back and forced me into this situation.

I decided if there were any time to talk it would be now so I asked sarcastically "Well do I get any say in this or are you going to produce another magical control device to control my mind as well as where I can go"?!

They all looked round at me and Princess Celestia explained "Normally I would make this journey to aid your King but my duties here prevent me so that is why my newly returned sister here has agreed to help and I would have preferred to send guards with her but they say that anypony in The Kingdom of the Griffons will be treated suspiciously so sending guards even without their armour would be suspicious and if captured could be traced back here. That is when you came along Mister Niles and although you might not want to be here it is in all of our interests that you escort my sister to Falcarius".

I grinned despite her stern expression towards me and began to laugh. It was rolling laughter and I asked sarcastically "You think I give a flying feather about the Kingdom or the King? I care about two things and that is myself and gold… or jewels they work too and frankly if news that the Princess of freedom and harmony was basically forcing a poor old little Griffon like me into slavery for the good of your crown then I bet the press would just eat it up and seeds of doubt would pop up all over Equestria"!

The Princess had her eyes fixed on me as she asked "Don't you care about helping others? About helping your people to stop this madness and ending a possible civil war before it has even begun? This is bigger than you and you have a chance to shine brighter than the gold you wish to line your saddlebags with"!

I rolled my eyes and lolled my head and replied "Listen my little Princess I'll be sure that once I get this damned box off my back to break this story to Equestria and maybe write a book about it and then I'll come back here and smack you in the damn mouth Uncle" I yelled, directing my last phrase to my Uncle with all the hate I could muster.

That was of course when her cool, starry eyes looked into mine and she asked "Why does thou think only of thy self when friendship seems to be the way of progress"? I didn't respond for a moment as I'd lost all my sense of reality but when it came back I responded "With respect you majesty, I realise you came back from a very long vacation and I don't understand why you need another so soon and for me to be the tour guide so I'm begging you please… let me go and I'll disappear, never darken in the doorway of Canterlot again".

Her frown turned from one of mystique to one of anger and she decreed "Hit him"! Everypony, especially Celestia looked surprised and looked at Luna and the guard holding me on my right asked "A-Are you sure your majesty"?

She looked angrily at the guard and yelled in a very loud voice "We want thou to hit the swine in the face this instant"! "Wait now this doesn't…" I tried to stop her but the guard had already swung his hoof and I felt my jaw as it snapped to left painfully.

"Don't stop" Luna yelled once more and I was hit again and again until Celestia yelled "That's enough! Luna what do you think you are doing violence is never the answer!" but Luna turned on her sister and shouted "We've seen friendship help us return but we've also seen the Griffon's down in that embassy with no home or hope and the secret forges where thou prepare for a coming war, violence has to be the only way, it was a thousand years ago and when it comes to it this age will also embrace it"!

I chuckled a hearty chuckle despite the blood I felt running down my head and I said "I like this mare a lot Uncle, want to ruffle a few feathers it seems and wants to punch the one supposedly escorting her..." I directed at my Uncle who had been standing there awkwardly throughout Luna's outburst. "Ok so here's the deal I'll escort the little Princess here to save the poorly King but then I want something in return" I replied.

My Uncle finally stepped into the conversation and angrily pointed out "You're in no place to negotiate here Niles, we can lock you away forever and you'll never feel the wind on your wings again"!

I smiled and said "True. But what happens if when travelling Princess Luna has… a fall". The attitude in the room changed drastically as I threw out the threat. Of course I didn't mean it and would never harm a mare but Celestia's eyes widened and she stepped closer and in a dangerous voice threatened "If you dare… dare to lay a talon on my sister then believe me I won't hesitate to kill you no matter where you are and not only that but I will find any associated with and I shall make sure their lives are miserable until the end of their days".

If the atmosphere of the room had become edgy when I'd thrown that stupid threat out it was now fearful and the fear came from everypony even my Uncle. "Sister we are fine, we can fight our own battles" demanded Luna and Celestia replied "I know you are strong Luna, but I just want to establish some things with good mister Niles who will escort you to the Capital of the Griffon Kingdom and then back again without you being harmed and then will get to walk away with his life and a full pardon from me of all crimes he has committed within Equestria".

Although I believed I was getting a concussion I couldn't help but ask "I was never arrested in Equestria, what crimes"? That's where my Uncle smiled and replied "We raided you're hotel room and found all the best jewels from the local jewellery stores along with a library worth of book about law" he sniggered.

I once more tried to leap at my Uncle and kick his ass but the guards kept me firmly restrained and hit me in the face once again so I agreed "Fine I'll do it, I'll do it and I don't want no favours after just please for the love of Equestria can you please stop hitting the face it's one of my only assets"!

Celestia although still hating my guts seemed happier. My Uncle just frowned and Princess Luna looked at me strangely until I realised that the look was one of both curiosity and an extreme disgust.

"So do you think you can get my face cleaned up and dish out some headache pills because right now I can't really see out of my right eye and there's a drum solo going in on my head" I said trying to stop any more conversation that would result in another hit in the face.

"Damn it all this was supposed to be a cushy job" I thought as I wondered if Dawn was still drinking tea.

**Please review with any mistakes or PM me and thanks to everyone who reviewed! J**


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